MANCHESTER — Concerned residents came together to discuss environmental factors that could play into Manchester's above-average breast cancer rate Tuesday night. Many left with more knowledge and a desire to enact change.
"We all have to be educated on these things and be proactive," said Manchester resident Susan Harrington, who thought the meeting offered good information.
The meeting, which drew about 25 people, was sponsored by Know Breast Cancer, a breast cancer prevention organization.
According to the Silent Spring Institute, Manchester has an incidence rate of breast cancer that is 51 percent to 100 percent higher than the state average. According to Susan Wadia-Ells, director and founder of Know Breast Cancer, Massachusetts has the sixth highest breast cancer rate in the United States. Nationally, one in seven women are diagnosed with breast cancer.
However, recent studies have found 90 percent of breast cancer cases are not linked to family history, leading some organizations to look at everyday prevention.
Wadia-Ells calls breast cancer an "unnecessary epidemic," and believes more money should be spent on breast cancer prevention.
"It makes no sense to spend 98 percent of money on diagnosis and treatment and 2 percent on stopping breast cancer before it starts," she said.
She said it's more profitable for the health care providers and pharmaceutical companies giving treatments and mammograms to keep the focus away from prevention. As a result, women have to learn how to protect themselves.
Resident Sheila Hill said cancer prevention is important.
"I think we're far too focused on pharmaceuticals as a solution to everything in our lives," she said.
Martha Farmer, president and CEO of North Shore Life Accelerator Inc., agreed and said doctors aren't given the tools they need in order to focus on prevention efforts.
"We do need a grassroots effort for this," she said. "It's time."
She said she wants to see people step up for the collective health.
"I profoundly support what Susan is doing," she said.
Factors that can add to a woman's breast cancer risk include the introduction of hormones through oral contraceptives, hormone replacement therapy, fertility drugs, and bovine growth hormones. Pre-menopausal mammograms can also be a factor due to radiation exposure, and excess body fat after menopause can increase free estrogen production, which can cause cell changes. Exposure to toxins and carcinogens in cosmetics and foods can also increase the risk.
Wadia-Ells referred to a person's collection of risk factors as a cocktail, since one single thing won't cause breast cancer. Instead, there is a cumulative effect.
Sam Levore of Toxics Action Center, a Boston-based environmental health organization, said a key question is if pesticide spraying is more harmful than helpful, since some pesticides contain chemicals that have been linked to birth defects and breast cancer. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, no pesticide can be officially classified as safe.
Martha Dansdill, executive director of the citizen-run public health group Healthlink, discussed the group's push for regulation of the coal-fired Salem Harbor Station Power Plant. Some residents suspect the plant is polluting Manchester.
Manchester resident George Smith said he read a study in the 1990s that concluded the plume from the power plant settled in west Manchester, where he has a tree farm. He had noticed his white pines' growth was stunted.
He said the concern about pollution's effects on the environment are easily translated to concerns about breast cancer.
"All these chemicals do affect us," he said.
Cancer survivor Alice Salter called her street in west Manchester the place "where all the pollution is." She said every household on the street has had at least one person with a cancer diagnosis, and she believes it's because of the power plant pollution.
Wadia-Ells said the European Union is a good example for the United States. It banned bovine growth hormone in 1989 and has also banned more than 1,000 chemicals and potential toxins from cosmetics. In the United States, bovine growth hormone is still legal, and according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, eight cosmetic ingredients have been banned because of safety concerns.
Since the European Union provides universal health care and pays for breast cancer treatments, it was beneficial to them to pass prevention laws, Wadia-Ells said.
"It seems time to sober up," she said. "We don't have to reinvent the wheel, we have the European Union."
More information about Know Breast Cancer and breast cancer prevention can be found at www.knowbreastcancer.net.
Amanda Flitter can be reached at gt_reporter@gloucestertimes.com.
