University of Liverpool researchers have recently announced, with the publication of a report in the Journal of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine, that environmental contaminants are more influential in causing cancer than originally believed in the medical and scientific communities. Up until now, the official medical and scientific stand on our exposure to carcinogenic or endocrine-disrupting chemicals, has not been one of alarm because concentrations of toxins were thought to be too low to cause cancer in humans.

The University of Liverpool researchers are breaking away from the established mindset by publishing a new study suggesting that exposure even to small amounts of these chemicals may result in an increased risk of developing cancer. We are exposed to cancer-causing toxins in our food, as well as environmental contaminants such as synthetic pesticides and organochlorines with hormone-disrupting properties.

It is extremely interesting to note, based on the researchers review of anecdotal evidence from practicing physicians in pre-industrial societies, that cancerous disease was rare among certain communities, such as the Canadian Inuits and Brazilian Indians. Cancer may be more a disease of industrialization and modern life than we are led to believe. Another notable report on the link between environmental toxins and cancer can be found in State of the Evidence 2006: What Is the Connection Between the Environment and Breast Cancer?, a report released by Breast Cancer Action.