Actualités cancérogènes

CBC News – Quebec City will be replacing approximately 8,000 intake pipes in its municipal water system over the next decade, to get rid of lead pipes that were used in the construction of commercial and residential buildings. Quebec City estimates there are around 80,000 households on its territory that were built before 1980, when the province’s building regulations banned the use of lead pipes.
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EHS Today – Working in cooperation with the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is studying possible harmful emissions that are released during the 3D printing process. The most concerning of the emissions are volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Although there have been many studies on the effects of VOCs produced by 3D printing, none of the research considered how these emissions change when certain additives are introduced to the 3D printing filament.
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Ontario Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development – A new video from the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Training & Skills Development outlines the risks posed by asbestos as well as the roles and responsibilities of workers, employers and site owners to mitigate these risks and ensure worker safety.
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CBC News – U.S. researchers who conducted the largest study yet into whether applying powder to the genitals increases a woman’s risk of ovarian cancer were unable to definitively put to rest the issue that has prompted thousands of lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson and other companies. Overall, the study did not find a significantly increased risk of ovarian cancer, but there appeared to be a heightened risk among certain women who used the products.
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Stanford News – When fires jump from forests and grasslands to urban areas, they incinerate household and industrial items such as computers and cars, leaving behind a stew of chemicals and heavy metals. Rain can wash this into streams, rivers and municipal water treatment systems unprepared to deal with the toxic deluge. Heavy sediment loads from wildfire-related erosion can also clog water systems and strain treatment requirements.
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Occupational and Environmental Medicine – The aim of this overview of reviews is to provide a comprehensive basis to inform evidence-based decision-making about interventions in the field of OHS. According to the study authors, this is the first comprehensive overview of behavioural, relational and mixed interventions and their effectiveness in preventing occupational injuries and diseases. It provides policymakers with an important basis for making evidence-based decisions on interventions in this field.
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New York Times – The e-waste industry is booming in Southeast Asia, and despite a ban on imports, Thailand is a center of the business. In addition to the danger posed to workers, if some types of electronic waste aren’t incinerated at a high enough temperature, dioxins, which can cause cancer and developmental problems, infiltrate the food supply. Without proper safeguarding, toxic heavy metals can also seep into the soil and groundwater.
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CBC News – Short-term radon test kits are not an effective way to find out if your home has unsafe levels of the dangerous gas, a new study says. Researchers from the University of Calgary placed two test kits — a five-day and 90-day — in the same homes. Tests were done during the summer and winter months. The results showed that the short-term kits were imprecise up to 99% of the time when compared to a long-term test.
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The Independent – Living within 50 metres of a major road can increase the risk of lung cancer by up to 10 per cent, according to new research on air pollution. The study, released by a coalition of 15 health and environment organizations, also showed that proximity to busy highways can stunt children’s lung development by up to 14 per cent.
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CBC News – Nova Scotia is spending $30,000 to ensure more people across the province have access to radon detectors. In 2017, 150 radon detectors were made available through library systems across the province, but the program became so popular there are eight-month waiting lists in some areas. The extra funds announced on Thursday will add 100 more detectors for libraries around the province and is expected to cut wait lists in half.
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The Guardian – New research has linked air pollution nanoparticles to brain cancer for the first time. The ultra-fine particles (UFPs) are produced by fuel burning, particularly in diesel vehicles, and higher exposures significantly increase people’s chances of getting the deadly cancer. Previous work has shown that nanoparticles can get into the brain and that they can carry carcinogenic chemicals.
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IARC – An Advisory Group of 29 scientists from 18 countries met at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in March 2019 to recommend priorities for the IARC Monographs programme during 2020–2024. The Advisory Group recommended a broad range of agents with high, medium, or low priority for evaluation. High priority agents include metalworking fluids, sedentary behavior, acrylamide, gasoline, firefighting, acetaldehyde, bisphenol A, and more.
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AP News – A yearlong investigation by more than 120 journalists from nine universities and 10 media organizations, including The Associated Press and the Institute for Investigative Journalism at Concordia University in Montreal , collected test results that properly measure exposure to lead in 11 cities across Canada. Out of 12,000 tests since 2014, one-third — 33% — exceeded the national safety guideline of 5 parts per billion; 18% exceeded the U.S. limit of 15 ppb.
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Workers Health & Safety Centre – Evidence of the link between night shift work and cancer has been mounting for over a decade, but a new Canadian cancer burden study finds we can’t wait for more definite proof. The new study, entitled “The Impact of night shift work on breast cancer: Results from the Burden of Occupational Cancer in Canada Study”, found an estimated two to 5.2 per cent of the newly diagnosed cases of breast cancer in women in 2011 were attributable to night shift work.
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Occupational and Environmental Medicine – Researchers performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to quantitatively evaluate the association between exposure to asbestos and colorectal cancer. Although the effect size was small and the heterogeneity among studies was large, their findings indicate that occupational exposure to asbestos is a risk factor for colorectal cancer, and that the risk of colorectal cancer mortality increases as the level of asbestos exposure rises.
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