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FILE NAME Newspaper & Magazine Articles NMA DATE 1956 DOC NMA122 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION Journal Article - Environmental Cancer - Cancer News Smog San Francisco Smog studies on rats New York Institute of Industrial Medicine nvironmental nvironmental nvironmental nvironmental nvironmental nvinrovnmienrtalonmental nvironmvierontmeantl nvironmental nvironmental nvironmental nvironmental nvironmental nvironmetal nvironmetal cancer- cancer- cancer- cancer- cancer- cancer- Sugar white flour preserves spices cheese canned goods cooked foods and tomatoes all cause cancer we hear Grapes on the other hand can ward off cancer and even cure it These are some of the misconceptions about cancer which various food fanatics and crackpots have held throughout the ages None of them of course is true Science has not found that any dietary item can lessen one's chances of getting cancer or recovering from cancer Aluminum cooking utensils were once thought by some to cause cancer A lot of people still believe that chemical fertilizers used instead of the oldfashioned organic kind make people more susceptible to cancer Another myth which has grown only in comparatively recent years is that water fluor- idation causes cancer Summer 1956 MODERN LIVING with its rapid tempos and nervous tensions is held by many people to be a cause for the increase in cancer which has been noted since the first World War This actually can be considered to have some slight basis in fact since modern living the sense of mod- ern science contributed to the greater longevity of our people making it possible for more of them to live on to old age when cancer strikes most frequently On the other hand modern man sometimes does unwittingly create an environment conducive to the growth and development of certain cancers Man in his unceasing quest to add to or improve upon his crea- ture comforts and conveniences has already developed as an offshoot or product of his present industrial civilization more than 400 chemical substances which have Air pollution analysis University of Southern California Studying mist particles as a factor in atmospheric pollution been identified as carcinogens meaning they can cause cancer in human beings or experimentally in animals Hence as regards cancer the called blessings of civilization would appear to be not un- mixed The very air we breathe may contain causing particles Science has known for a long time that certain hydrocarbons cause cancer These exist in coal tar products soot incompletely combusted gasolines and oils Traces of them have been reportedly found in cigarette smoke and they exist in smog and industrial dust A scientist work- ing under an American Cancer Society grant at the University of Southern California and Los An- geles County Hospital has recently induced cancers in mice merely by having them live in and breathe an atmosphere contaminated with these compounds , However there is a vast re- difference in the carcinogenic potential of the air we breathe as compared to the extremely dense smogs in which the laboratory mice were reared The analogy might be that of breathing concentrated poi- son gas in a closed chamber as against inhaling minute quantities of it in the open air the difference is that of degree and length of exposure Federal state and municipal governments as well as private agen- cies are becoming increasingly aware of the smog problem and industry and labor are working right along with them to protect us As yet science has not proved that any human being has ever gotten cancer by the act of breathing The effects of environmental in- fluences on cancer become more clear when we get down into specific industries where the workers employ materials which are known to be carcinogenic The conclusion is inescapable that certain chemical agents particularly of industrial origin are important factors in the causation of certain types of human cancer It has been noted that there are at least such chemicals known to be carcinogenic to some degree and it is probable that others will crop up as the result of continuing scientific laboratory experimentation In short as our re- search progresses and industrialization grows we will continue to find more cancer causes in our occupational environment In general the occupational agents known to cause cancer do so only in specific organs of the body The list of established to proved causes of occupational cancer is impressive Arsenic tar creosote crude paraffin oil ionizing radiation rays radium and sunlight can if the contact is intense enough and long enough result in skin cancer Asbestos chromate compounds nickel carbonyl tar fumes and ionizing radiation increase the likelihood of cancer of the lung Nickel carbonyl isopropyl oil not to be confused with isopropyl alcohol which is made from it and radioactive dusts and gases are accepted causes of cancer of the nasopharynx and sinuses Aromatic amines used in the manufacture of synthetic dyes cause cancer of the bladder Radium and mesothorium radioactive elements produce sarcoma of bone Benzene and radiations can cause the malignant diseases of the bloodforming tissues such as the spleen lymph nodes bone marrow which we call leukemia All the causes of cancer listed here are demonstrated and widely accepted causes encountered in specific occupations Many other causes are suspected on the basis of statistical and experimental re- search And these are under con- stant study One point should be remem- bered In general the agents mentioned as causing occupational cancer are hazardous only in the form and in the amount in which they are handled in manufacturing processes For instance in the little town of Ampere N. J. toward the end of World War I a number of women were employed at painting the ra- dium hands and numbers on watch dials make them glow in the dark It was their common practice to twirl the brush between their lips in order to get a fine point on it between dippings into the radium taining liquid In time these workers had swallowed and absorbed into their systems minute quantities of radium which ultimately found its way into their bones Years later many of the women had developed cancer of the bone which proved fatal in almost all cases This is a well known and even notorious case of cancer in industry Since then of course other techniques of radium application have been adopted and safeguards for workers installed Pitchblende miners in Cze~ ho- slovakia were developing lung cancer at an alarming rate until it was discovered that the air of the mine contained a fine radioactive dust which inhaled over the years pro- duced such cancer Vineyard work- ers in France sometimes get skin cancer arsenic from contamination with used to spray the fields Some workers in the synthetic azo dye industries of Germany and Switzerland contracted cancer of the bladder later it developed that these dyes contained two strong carcinobetanaphthylamine and benzidine In the oil industry high boiling fractions of petroleum and petroleum products shale oil coal tar and related compounds are estab- lished inciters of cancer of the skin Leukemia is seen more frequently in physicians who work with rays than in those who are not exposed so heavily to radiation The problem of bladder cancer in Egypt is believed due to the marked infesta- tion with schistosoma a parasitic ailment that occurs there particularly among farmers Skin cancer is seen more frequently in sailors ranchers and farmers than in people who are not so heavily exposed to sunlight In the manufacture of products from propylene gas there appears to be a higher than expected 5 Summer 1956 incidence of cancer of the nasal perhaps due to inhalation of irritating fumes In general there is no difference between a cancer caused by an occupational poison and one of unknown cause says Dr. Herbert K. Abrams Medical Director of the Building Service Employees Union Local 25 Chicago Cancers of the bladder lung or skin for example are the same whether caused by in- halation of a certain chemical in the factory or resulting from an unidentified cause The most important tool to aid the doctor in making the diagnosis of occupational cancer is a thorough occupational history Occupational cancers usually require years of exposure to develop The time will depend upon the intensity of exposure potency of the chemical or physical agent and the Mine worker - 1900 feet underground FREELANCE PHOTO GUILD relative susceptibility of the individual affected Occupational cancers have been reported to occur in from one to many years of expo- sure It is possible for a cancer to become manifest years after the worker has left the place of employ- ment where the exposure occurred This is another reason why a thorough history is so important Cancer- agents are dis- covered in two ways experimentation with animals and epidemiological investigation Epidemiological research works theoretically like this it is known that in a certain state only 0.02 per cent of the population get cancer of the bladder but in one county of that state 0.1 per cent of the population is affected In a single plant in that county it is discovered that 5 per cent of the employees get bladder cancer Further research then reveals that 50 per cent of the employees in one specific department of the plant and over 90 per cent of the workers employed in one phase of this operation get this type of the disease it also may be observed that these workers get cancer at an earlier age than persons in the general popula- tion So now there is a solid basis for a detailed study of the chemicals and processes to which those work- ers are exposed The outlook for reducing cancer in industry is more hopeful than that for the general population because exposure to the carcinogenic agent can be controlled Prevention is based on the same principles as is prevention of other occupational diseases Some notable safeguards are 1. Substitution where possible of a less harmful chemical or process for a harmful one For example replacement of benzol by a less dangerous solvent 2. Introduction of a production system to prevent escape of noxious dusts fumes and gases into the air 3. Exhaust ventilation to remove noxious dusts fumes and gases 4. Protective clothing goggles gloves and respirators for the worker Change of work clothing daily with showers at the end of the day 5. Medical supervision of the workers with periodic examinations to detect early signs of trouble 6. Education of the worker Unless he knows what he is doing and handling and how to protect himself all other measures are apt to fail The primary purpose of medicine in industry is to guard the worker's health so he can continue to earn a livelihood uninterruptedly adds Dr. Leo Price Director of the Union Health Center New York City One great safeguard of good health is the periodic medical examination and prompt medical treatment following early signs of disease The worker who takes ad- vantage of this service can usually maintain good general health and be free from fear of disability With medical supervision and treatment even chronic diseases and conditions are no bar to continued employ- ment Theretore medical service on or near the job helps the worker take care of his immediate requirements while he keeps on working The purpose of labor health centers is to provide this direct medical service ; Regular periodic medical examinations help identify cancer early when it is most easily controlled In 1954 the following different types of that malady were found among garment workers who attended the Union Health Center 55 cancers of the skin 31 cancers of the rectum 24 cancers of the colon 20 lung cancers 14 breast cancers 13 stomach cancers 8 of the cervix And how many American indus- tries are cooperating in the safeguarding programs of their workers health A great although the number could and should be in- creased Among some examples of f adn fede pe ty Be whe bod participating industries cited by the National Cancer Institute of the U. S. Public Health Service are The Monsanto Chemical Company discontinued manufacturing amino diphenyl which was used as an antioxidant after it was discovered that this chemical is highly carcinogenic and had caused cancers of the blad- der among the workers within a relatively short period of years Several chromate manufacturers such as the Mutual Chemical Company and the Diamond Alkali Company have constructed during recent years new plants in order to reduce the lung cancer hazard among chromate workers The Union Carbide and Carbon Company has made some funda- mental changes in the technological aspects of the production of isopropyl alcohol to obviate the cancer hazards affecting the nasal sinuses Summer 1956 Chromate plant ore storage piles and testing chromate dust with particle accumulatoranalyzer below Coding health records of chromate workers seas larynx and lung of producers of isopropanol under close medical supervision 4 institute measures throughout the total tar This fraction causes skin cancer in 9 out of 10 mice and may company to eliminate or diminish well contain the agent which is con- The American Petroleum Institute contact of employees with the oils cerned in the production of many has been financing over the last five The company under the direction cases of human lung cancer The or six years an extensive research of Dr. Leo Wade Medical Director studies of Dr. Wynder and his asso- program for the determination of carcinogenic derivatives of petroleum Some twelve manufacturers processors and users of coal tar and related products pitch asphalt creosote oil anthracene oil methylated naphthalene have banded together to provide financial support for the study of carcinogenic haz- of Esso Standard and with the advice of Dr. Robert E. Eckardt Medical Director of the Research and Engineering Division restricted the number of men exposed to the oils and put into effect a program to make physical examination obliga- tory four times a year Protective ciates have been supported thus far by 35,509 in American Cancer Society grants and his group is only one such supported team looking into the growing seriousness of the lung cancer problem The ACS has allocated a million dollars to the lung cancer study during the past ards related to these products clothing is required on these jobs Improvements have been made in the processing of asbestos by some of the American manufacturers thereby reducing the hazard of asbestosis as well as of asbestosis cancer of the lung Manufacturers of household deter- aprons boots gloves whole suits Employees are obliged to shower before leaving the plant and to don clean work clothes daily equip- ment used in the productioonf the more carcinogenic oils is painted bright orange Assisting Dr. Ec- kardt in the basic studies have been gents have financed during recent Dr. Horace W. Gerarde head toxi- years a scale investigation of the raw products of chemicals provided by the petroleum industry used in the manufacture of detergents to determine their possible harm any cologist Nathan B. Hendricks head industrial hygienist Dr. Bertrand E. Bennison chief clinical research physician How a whole industry took action on the problem was demonstrated How one specific company took cognizance of and action on this problem is illustrated in the well- rounded program of the Esso Stand- ard Oil Company of New Jersey Extensive studies carried out by the Esso Research and Engineering Division had shown that the residual material left over after the com- pany's high boiling catalytic cracking process had taken off the gasoline kerosene heating oils and diesel oils was highly carcinogenic to lower animals It was concluded that a potential cancer hazard existed where man came into contact with these residual oils Some within the past two years Extensive studies had shown a close associa- tion between cigarette smoking and deaths from lung cancer American tobacco interests were naturally con- cerned and set up a Tobacco Indus- try Research Committee supported by a half million dollar fund contributed by various companies Dr. Clarence Cook Little head of the Roscoe B. Jackson Memorial Labo- ratory at Bar Harbor Me and one of the foremost cancer researchers in the country was called in to head the tobacco research whose funds have since been swelled an- other million dollars 4,000 Esso refinery employees were engaged in working with or handling them Prompt steps were taken to ) expand the experimental biological studies to obtain additional information relative to the carcino- genic properties of the oils 2 initiate physical and chemical studies to eliminate or diminish the carcino- genic qualities of the oils ) put all employees exposed to these oils Meanwhile Dr. Ernest L. Wyn- der a scientist heading an ACS ported smoking study at the Me- morial Center for Cancer and Allied Diseases New York City has within months announced the separation of a fraction of the conden- sate from tobacco smoke represent- ing approximately 1.0 per cent of the and in March 1955 estabtwo years lished an Ad Hoc Advisory Com- mittee on Lung Cancer composed of America's foremost doctors and scientists to guide its research The increase in lung cancer death greatest of any cancer site over the past few decades attrib- utable to many possible causes The evidence which links smoking is no more than circumstantial at pres- ent The existence of respiratory cancer hazards has on the other hand been reliably demonstrated among those who inhale hot coal tar fumes during the manufacture of gas and coke workers exposed to certain petroleum mists and fogs others exposed to vapors from isopropyl oil refinery workers having contact with nickel dust and nickel carbonyl vapors workers who Doctors working with wet ray film use protective aprons goggles Rays from radium in glass dish furnished only light for inset photo breathe in chromium compounds asbestos workers with pulmonary asbestosis Investigators working on one re- search project at the University of Pittsburgh supported by the Ameri- can Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute have challenged several common scientific concepts of cancer induction They suggest that carcinogens - agents which have been regarded as harmless by themselves but capable of increasing the potency of cancer- causing substances --- themselves cause cancer if exposure is great enough Once again it may all be a matter of dosage and length of ex- posure they contend The Pittsburgh scientists report that the causing potency of an agent can be varied at will by the experimenter since it is dependent on dosage time and concentration They found that a single applica- tion of 0.01 cc of 1.25 per cent solu- tion of 3,4 benzpyrene total of 125 micrograms of the substance-- will not cause cancer when painted on the shaved skin of a mouse If a lesser amount 120 micrograms is given over a longer week period however it causes tumors in the mice Most of these disappear if exposure is stopped but continued exposures produce cancers which kill the test animals The results of this and other re- search make questionable the idea of minimal single doses of a carcinogen being entirely harmless They indicate that very slight expo- sures have a cumulative effect which can add up to cancer if the doses are repeated often enough This line of research has signifi- cance for humans It suggests that a single slight exposure to cancercausing agents may not be harmful but repeated slight exposures could lead to cancer Lending further credence to this theory Volume 70 No. 3 March '55 of Public Health Reports issued by the U. S. Department of Health Education and Welfare carries an 9 Inhalation chambers for atmospheric experiments on mice New York University Medical Center article titled Relationship of Industrial Carcinogens to Cancer in the General Population which states A rapidly growing accumulation of evidence suggests that industry- related or occupational cancer haz- ards carry as a corollary a similar though diluted or attenuated hazard for the general population The in- dustrialization of society during the past half century has resulted in certain new economic phe- nomena one of which has been the concentration of population in close proximity to industrial sources of environmental pollution This con- centration of population and the re- cent advent of the atomic age the era of synthetics and the petroleum economy when combined with epi- demiological observations indicate that a general population hazard is of more than theoretical signifi- cance ' Such an everyday essential to life as drinking water has been known to carry causing factors An endemic appearance of skin cancers due to the consumption of drinking water polluted with arsenicals has been reported from such divergent places as Reichenstein Silesia and Cordoba Argentina In Reichen- stein the arsenic which entered the drinking supply originated from water seeping through arsenic taining slag heaps from the mines while in Cordoba the water had a naturally high arsenic content At- tention has also been called to the pollution of water supplies through the discharge of wastes from chemical factories paper plants cellulose manufacturing establishments gas works rayon plants textile dyeing plants tanneries steel plants oil re- fineries and similar industrial establishments and to the introduction of substances from freshly tarred or oiled roads into the rain water or of arsenicals used for the spraying or dusting of fields orchards and woods or released from copper smelters into the air and thus carried down by rain Concerning definition and types of environmental carcinogens Dr. W. C. Hueper Chief of the En- vironmental Cancer Section of the National Cancer Institute has said in a Public Health Report Supplement 209 titled Environmental and Occupational Cancer Any physical chemical or parasitic agent forming a part of our natural or artificial environment that on proper exposure directly or indirectly elicits cancerous growths in one several or all types of human tissues represents an environmental carcinogen Exposure to these fac- tors is related to a great number of highly diverse environmental conditions such as occupational activities diets medicines and medicinal devices cosmetics wearing apparel building materials habits and customs climate fauna contaminants in drinking water atmospheric air foodstuffs and recent yearsprocedures of warfare Some of the evidence is of cir- 10 cancer news cumstantial character derived from statistical observations showing defi- stricted occupational contacts and no general environmental human ex- nite differences in the incidence rates of cancers These appear in different regions among different races sexes and social and occupational groups and with different climates and also are to be noted in marked variations in the relative distribution of cancers upon the different organs in different countries and popula- tion groups Another type of evidence is of a more definite nature and applies to the environmental tumors proper posures As has been pointed out previ- ously certain segments of American industry are being most conscientious about the growing problem of environmental cancer Other segments are not so cooperative Some industries which have instituted studies of the problem are not pub- lishing data on the symptomatology and epidemiology of cancers within their industries Through such secretiveness the medical profession is thereby deprived of the benefit of factual evidence which is essential Dr. Hueper has assessed the rela- tive significance of various chemical carcinogens from the public health viewpoint and has proposed a pri- ority formula for the screening of suspected materials He would give the highest priority rating to those chemicals with which the largest part of the general popu- lation has the most contact Agents of this nature include chemical additives and contaminants of food- for an intelligent approach to a preventive control of cancer by medical and technological procedures In fact some companies have taken active steps to prevent the publication of incriminating evidence obtained by investigators in their several fields A few industrial concerns and Synthetic diet tests stuffs industrial and military pol- lutants of the air water and soil wrapping and packaging agents of foodstuffs cosmetics household drugs counter items cleaning and polishing agents waxes dry cleaning fluids detergents metal- furniture- and silver- polishes etc. sanitary goods paints herbicides pesticides etc i.e. any chemical which enters the general human environment in the form of consumer goods or as an environmental contaminant The second highest priority would be given to chemicals to which large worker groups employed in pro- ducing processing and consuming industries become exposed but which either are not incorporated into consumer goods or may be pres- ent only in inactive form The lowest priority would go to potentially carcinogenic chemicals of relatively less significance from a public health viewpoint such as medicinal agents dispensed only upon prescription and industrial chemicals with numerically re- certain industrial consultants have even gone to the length of endeavoring to undermine the professional standards of workers in the field of occupational cancer Considerably more educational work remains to be done in this area One state health official recently visited a small asphalt plant where there was a known carcinogen haz- ard He tried to persuade the owner to improve his ventilating system and provide other safeguards The owner who worked in the plant himself scoffed at the idea said he'd been working with asphalt for over 20 years declared that no bureau- crat was going to persuade him it was dangerous Even as he spoke the state official reported later could clearly see half a dozen wartlike growths on his face and hands _ kind that are often precan- cerous I recognized what was probably an actual cancer the size 11 Summer 1956 of a dime growing just above his cheekbone A half a dozen bills are now pending in Congress which would help safeguard the foods we not from carcinogens alone but from all potentially dangerous or untried additives These would require processors adding new chemicals to foods to test them for their chronic effect on animals before they are put on the market Secretary of Health Indian natives often get cancer from chafing of fibrous clothing at waist FREELANCE PHOTO CUILD Our ancestors often developed lip cancer from smoking clay pipes hot CULVER SERVICE Marion B. Folsom has stated There is no responsible group in either the food or the chemical in- dustries which so far as we know opposes the objectives of such legis- lation There has been some delay in passage however tees are determining the new law should while commit- just how strict be and how it should be enforced Meanwhile the man on the street the plain American citizen interested in maintaining the health and welfare of his family is concerned with keeping himself and his loved ones free of cancer But no amount of Congressional legislation will free him of his own personal responsibility Knowledge of cancer and its symptoms and an awareness of the necessity of early protection and prompt treatment will still be his first safeguards against the disease Many types of cancer are preceded by recognizable conditions and many cancers are incurable only because they are detected too late The yearly medical examination for adults and the alertness to cancer's known seven danger signals re- main the best precautions Modern man in his modern environment can take solace from one fact Environmental cancer is not at all new and is not at all unique to our present industrial civilization Cancer of the lip was a hearthside hazard among our ancestors who smoked clay pipes hot Scalp tumors prevail among Moslem males whose religious practices inspire them to shave their skulls with blunt hence chronically irri- instruments In The Philippines the natives get mouth cancer by sucking on a wrapped betel nut Certain natives of India develop cancer from the constant chafing of their fibrous gathered at the waist Then there is a cancer found in the people of Northern China who sleep on a perforated mat under which is placed hot bricks to keep them warm they gradually develop grade burns which later become tumorous Thus literally they get cancer from going to bed cancer news SUMMER 1956