Causes of cancer closer to home
Play
Re: "Why not blot out all stacks spewing smoke?", Letters, October 19.
Once again John Arnone tries to mislead readers by suggesting that the World Health Organisation said that pollution, and not smoking, was the major cause of cancer in general and lung cancer in particular. But here is the latest WHO statement on the subject, made this year:
“On average, smokers increase their risk of lung cancer between five- and tenfold, and in developed countries smoking is responsible for upward of 80 per cent of lung cancer.”
While there are numerous causes of cancer, smoking and diet are by far the two biggest risk factors. As individuals we can’t avoid pollution, but we can avoid putting a cigarette or a hamburger in our mouths. Blaming most cancer on outside factors is a cowardly cop-out.
Eric Bahrt
