Indiscriminate use of cosmetics may increase risk of cancer

In the 2009 documentary ‘The Idiot Cycle,’ it is alleged that the world’s top cancer causing culprits include the companies Bayer, BASF, Dow, Dupont, Monsanto, Syngetna, Novartis, Pfizer, among others. The allegation is that chemical manufacturers are profiting from the production of cancer-causing products and then some of the same companies are investing in profitable cancer treatments.

On top of this, many of these companies are now developing genetically modified crops, which have never been adequately tested for long term health impacts like cancer. The onset of cancer is frequently 15 to 20 years down the road for victims.

Eric-Gilles Seralini, professor of Molecular Biology at the University of Caen in France, says it is absurd that only three months of testing allowed GM corn to be approved in over a dozen nations. Upon reviewing Monsanto’s raw data, he and his team found, among other problems, liver damage and physiological changes into a pre-diabetic condition among the rats which had eaten Monsanto’s GM corn. And that’s just from three months of eating such food.

In recent decades, the global incidence of cancer has escalated. Even more disturbing is the recent recognition that this very high incidence of cancer is going to double by 2050.

According to Dr Sanjoy Kumar Pal, writing in the British Medical Journal in 2005, the incidence of cancer for some major organs in India is the highest in the world. He argues that adoption of ‘western lifestyles’ is in part making more people vulnerable to cancer.

While tobacco is a major factor here, other factors cannot be discounted. For instance, recent reports in the media have drawn attention to rising rates of breast cancer in urban areas, and, in 2009, there was a reported increase in cancer rates in Tamil Nadu’s textile belt possibly due to contaminated water. 

However, without proper regulations in force, this may be the thin end of the wedge for India. According to Dr Samuel Epstein, emeritus professor of Environmental Medicine at the University of Illinois, a range of industries in the US have contaminated the air, land and sea with a wide range of petrochemical and other carcinogens. This has not only affected the public at large, but has also placed workers in certain sectors and their offspring at risk of cancer.

 Epstein notes that the incidence of non-Hodgkin’s Iymphoma has gone up by nearly 100 per cent in the US over the last few decades and brain cancer by about 80 to 90 per cent. Breast cancer has gone up about 60 to 65 per cent. Testicular cancer, particularly in men between the ages of 28-35, has gone up by nearly 300 per cent. Epstein asserts that there has been a massive escalation in the incidence of cancer that cannot be explained away on the basis of smoking, longevity, genetics or a fatty diet. He may be right.

Important risk factors

In the United States, animal and dairy products are highly contaminated with a wide range of hormones, pesticides and other industrial, chemical carcinogens, some of which are very important risk factors for reproductive cancers - testicular cancers in men, breast cancers in women and leukemia in children. The use of the IGF1 growth hormone in milk has been associated with breast, prostate and colon cancer.  

Epstein provides various examples of everyday taken-for-granted household items, cosmetics and toiletries, from deodorisers to shampoo and talcum powder, which also contain chemicals that are carcinogens. The conclusion is that synthetic chemicals and their effects on people's health impact everyone simply because they can be found in so many consumer products today.

Unfortunately, many governments roll over all too easily when it comes to sanctioning new synthetic chemicals without adequate testing, which is not too surprising, especially where pharmaceuticals are concerned - substantially more money is spent by companies on marketing and lobbying than on actual research into their drugs.

The usual reaction by officialdom is to individualise health issues by advising people to change their behaviour. While in certain cases individual behaviour may indeed minimise risks, there is not much the individual can do in terms of many of the major cancers that have increased in recent decades. By adopting a ‘blame the victim’ strategy, attention is diverted away from the practices of large corporations that cause cancer and ill health.

However, in his book Corrupt to the Core, scientist Dr Shiv Chopra tells of his many battles against the Canadian government, which knowingly allowed dangerous drugs, agricultural practices and carcinogenic pesticides to enter the food supply. Chopra asserts there is a concerted effort by companies to sicken and then treat humanity, with the compliance of corrupt government officials, while raking in massive profits.

Whistleblowers like Chopra are playing a valuable role by exposing corrupt practices. At the same time, a number of pressure groups are actually engaged in trying to phase out the use of carcinogenic chemicals in products. However, as was the case when the tobacco companies were taken on, tackling the interests of powerful state-corporate actors is likely to be a long and arduous affair.