10-08-2009, 01:47 AM
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Pesticide pollution is linked to cancer
THE first firm evidence has been uncovered to link environmental pollution with cancer in human beings. Re- searchers have found that people with high levels of pesticides and chemicals known as PCBs in their blood streams are far more likely to develop genetic mutations linked with cancer of the pancreas.
The findings, reported in The Lancet, came as the Government announced plans to carry out strict environmental and health toxicity tests on 1,000 chemicals by 2005.
Michael Meacher, the Environment Minister, said yesterday: "Only a few hundred of the 20,000 chemicals in everyday use have been tested for their impact on health and the environment. This is unacceptable."
There is growing concern about the effects of "gender bender" hormone disrupter chemicals that are feared to be affecting the endocrine system in humans and wildlife.
Mr Meacher said that the 1,000 target chemicals, ranging from flame retardants to pesticides, amounted to "95 per cent of the total tonnage of all chemicals produced". He would be looking closely at the Lancet findings to see if the Government needed to step up action against rhe chemicals concerned.
The cancer link has been made by Professor M iguel Porta and colleagues at the Municipal Institute of Medical Research and Autonomous University in Barcelona. They have been studying compounds known as organochlorines including the pesti- cide DDT, and polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs used historically for insulating and cooling electrical equipment.
Trace levels of such chemicals are found across the world in food and water. They can build up and concentrate in the fat of animals, including human beings.
The researchers looked at 51 patients with pancreatic cancer and compared blood concentrations of the pollutants and the levels of mutation of a gene called K-Ras, believed to cause pancreatic cancer. K- Ras genes have been found to be targets for chemical carcinogens in laboratory studies of animals.
The team found that people with high blood concentrations of DOT and three common PCBs were more than five times more likely to have a mutation than those with low levels.
The Lancet adds that the findings offer the "first link ; between the most common genetic alteration in pancreatic cancer and an environmental substance. It is also the first time that a mutation of a Ras gene has been associated with serum concentrations of organochlorines in any group of cancer patients." Professor Porta said that the results "suggest new roles for organochlorines in the development of cancers in human beings".
DDT is banned in Europe but is used in developing countries, from where it is carried to Britain on the wind.
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