The reason I decided to write about environmental cancer risks is because I stopped and looked at the environment I grew up in and the environment I choose to live in today. My parents were smokers of cigarettes and a pipe, so I grew up with second-hand smoke. I didn't have a choice because I was a kid. In junior high school I tried smoking cigarettes for a very short time and chose to quit. Like every young teenager I loved getting the "perfect tan" but usually ended up sunburned. Today I choose to limit my exposure to the sun.
Environmental factors play a role in over 50% of cancers. Sun exposure and smoking are the major contributers, accounting for about 40% of all cancers. All other environmental factors combined - including pesticides, air pollution and asbestos - account for less than 10%.
Environmental factors can cause cancer in the same ways as other factors. The carcinogen enters the body, mainly through breathing but also by being ingested (for example, eating contaminated foods) or absorbed through the skin.
Top 10 List of Environmental Links to Cancer
According to the "Environmental Protection Agency" (EPA), voluntary activities such as exposure to the sun and cigarette smoking cause the greatest risk of developing cancer. Other factors contribute much less significantly to cancer development. Approximate lifetime risk of developing cancer:
Risk Factors
1. Excessive sun exposure 1 in 3
2. Cigarette smoking (one pack or more a day) 8 in 100
3. Natural radon in indoor air at home 1 in 100
4. Outside radiation 1 in 1,000
5. Second hand-smoke 7 in 10.000
6. Human-made chemicals in indoor air 2 in 10,000
7. Outdoor air in industrialized areas 1 in 10,000
8. Human-made chemicals in drinking water 1 in 100,000
9. Human-made chemicals in most foods 1 in 100,000
10. Chemical exposure at uncontrolled 1 in 100,000
hazardous-waste sites
In this article I will discuss only four of those risks.
Sun Exposure
Seven hundred thousand Americans will be diagnosed with skin cancer each year. It is the most common form of cancer. Exposure to the ulraviolet radiation in the sun's rays is responsible for almost all cases of basal cell carcinomas and squamous cell carcinoma. They account for 80% of all new cases. Malignant melanoma is the most serious and is responsible for approximately 32,000 new cases and 7,000 deaths each year.
