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White House Announces Major New Increases In Funding To Determine Environmental Causes of Disease
Funding Will Provide New Insight Into the Causes of Breast and Prostate Cancer
January 13, 2000
Today, the White House will announce that the President's FY 2001
budget will include an unprecedented funding increase to explore the
largely unknown environmental causes of diseases, like breast and prostate
cancer. This major initiative, which is advocated by the American Cancer
Society and the American Academy of Pediatrics, will provide $27 million,
56 percent greater than last year's funding level, for the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Environmental Health Lab to: assist
communities investigating unusual incidence of cancer or other diseases;
identify regions of the country in which individuals are at increased risk
of dangerous exposure to carcinogens and other toxic substances; and ensure
rapid evaluation of the impact of public health emergencies. Because of
the startling lack of evidence pinpointing the environmental cause of
cancers and many other diseases, these studies should play a major role in
determining new, more effective diagnostic tests and preventive techniques.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS ARE LINKED TO INCREASED INCIDENCE OF CANCER AND OTHER DISEASES. Studies tracking patterns of cancer development and birth
defects suggest the influence of environmental factors.
- Environmental contaminants are associated with a wide range of birth
defects and other diseases. Of the120,000 U.S. babies born each year with
a birth defect, 8,000 die during their first year of life, making birth
defects the leading cause of infant mortality in the United States and
contributing substantially to childhood morbidity and long-term disability.
Hundreds of thousands of cases of asthma and lead poisoning are also
associated with environmental contaminants.
- Initial scientific evidence demonstrates that increased risk of breast
cancer may be associated with unknown environmental factors. According to
the American Cancer Society, one out of nine American women will develop
breast cancer in her lifetime, and breast cancer is now the leading cause
of cancer for women between the ages of 35 and 54. Despite decades of
research, over half of all breast cancer cases cannot be explained by known
risk factors, such as genetic predisposition, reproductive history, and
diet.
- Initial scientific evidence demonstrates that increased risk of
prostate cancer may be associated with unknown environmental factors.
Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer found in American men
other than skin cancer, and disproportionately impacts African-American
men. Researchers estimate that there will be about 180,000 new cases of
prostate cancer in the United States this year, 36 percent of all cancer
cases, and that about 37,000 men will die of this disease. However,
researchers estimate that only 10 percent of prostate cancers are due to
genetic predisposition.
- Lack of research on the association between environmental exposure and
breast cancer prostate cancer, and other diseases represents a lost
opportunity to improve public health. Research on the impact of
environmental contaminants on individual health will promote the
development of improved diagnostic techniques, prevention strategies, and
treatments. If exposure to chemicals in the environment was shown to be
associated with only 10 percent of breast and prostate cancer cases, and we
reduced or eliminated the identified hazards were reduced and eliminated,
the development of these diseases in 30,000 men and women could potentially
have been prevented each year.
- Biomonitoring provides the critical information necessary to link
exposure and disease. Biomonitoring is the measurement of toxic substances
in the human body, providing information necessary to link exposure to a
toxic substance and the development of diseases such as cancer and a wide
range of birth defects. It identifies which groups of people are in the
most danger from toxic substances, evaluates the success of preventive
actions, and improves the response of public health officials to
emergencies. This technique, combined with the application of new advances
in determining the genetic causes of disease, will inevitably lead to
striking developments in treating and preventing cancer and other diseases.
CLINTON-GORE ADMINISTRATION MAKES MAJOR NEW INVESTMENT TO INVESTIGATE THE ENVIRONMENTAL CAUSES OF CANCER AND OTHER DISEASES. Today, the White House will announce that the President's FY 2001 budget will include a $27 million investment to:
- Double the level of assistance provided to state and local public
health officials investigating adverse health events potentially linked to
environmental exposures. This new investment will allow epidemiologists
and toxicologists at the CDC's Environmental Health Lab to double the level
of critical technical support to communities to investigate increased
incidence of cancer or other diseases potentially linked to toxic
environmental exposures. As part of these interventions, the CDC will test
the exposure of thousands of individuals to toxic substances to determine
the cause of their illness. Studies that evaluate increased risk of cancer
or birth defects from exposure to potential carcinogens or toxic substances
will be given funding priority. When dangerous exposures are identified,
CDC will work with local public health officials to take all measures
necessary to protect residents from further harm.
- Identify regions of the country where individuals are exposed to toxic
substances that cause cancer and other diseases. Although the
Environmental Health Lab has conducted studies that link exposure to the
pesticide dieldrin to increased risk of breast cancer and polychlorinated
biephenyls (PCBs) to increased risk non-Hodgkins lymphoma, there is
currently no way to determine the national level of exposure to these
dangerous substances. These new funds will allow for the routine conduct
of nationwide monitoring of over 100 potentially toxic substances,
including dieldrin, PCBs, and over 70 other potential carcinogens. This
initiative will assess exposure to these dangerous substances among women
of childbearing age, children, minorities, and the elderly and will develop
a blueprint for action to prevent dangerous exposures in the future.
- Ensure rapid evaluation of the impact of public health emergencies.
This new initiative will also ensure that the CDC's Environmental Health
Lab, together with state and local public health officials, can immediately
address public health emergencies, such as widespread exposure to a toxic
substance through a chemical spill or contamination of a product through a
manufacturing error. Together with epidemiologists, toxicologists, and
other public health personnel, the lab will conduct a comprehensive
investigation to identify all sources of contamination and work with local
officials to protect residents from further exposure. For example, when
methyl parathion, a lethal pesticide, was illegally sprayed in thousands of
homes during 1996 and 1997, the Environmental Health Lab created a new
method to test for the presence of this dangerous substance and provided
the laboratory support services and scientific expertise necessary to
prioritize medical treatment and determine which homes should be evacuated.
The funds announced today will enable the CDC to respond swiftly to future
emergencies.