With the connection between harmful chemicals and cancer causes having been made so strong in the last decade or so (and before that), do U.S. states -- in addition to federal regulations -- do enough to keep these substances out of reach of the everyday citizen?

In the state of Alabama, the discharge of certain chemicals directly into the environment that end up in the water supply gives people in that state the distinction of being diagnosed with cancer more often that other states.

But not every party is taking that kind of news sitting down, as 18 environmental and citizen organizations have formally petitioned Alabama's state environmental agency to seek a cancer risk level that should greatly increase the state of human health in that state. Read more here -- and hope that your state has similar motions in place for the future or even right now.

California Democratic Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald, subject of an April 20 post, died of cancer early Sunday. She was 68.

"Juanita Millender-McDonald was a trailblazer, always advocating for the full participation of all Americans in the success and prosperity of our country," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "The dignity with which she faced her illness was an indication of the determination with which she always served the people of her district."

Millender-McDonald, a native of Birmingham, Alabama who served a district including Compton, Long Beach, and parts of Los Angeles, is the second member of Congress to die this year of cancer. Republican Rep. Charles Norwood Jr. of Georgia died in February after his battle with both cancer and lung disease.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has 14 days to set a date for a special election to fill Millender-McDonald's seat.

The congresswoman is survived by her husband, James McDonald, Jr., and five adult children.

Once upon a time there were two groups of mice, all genetically engineered to develop prostate cancer. Each group was fed the same amount of calories. One group of mice lived in cages warmed to 80.6 degrees. The other group lived in cages kept at 71.6 degrees. The mice in the cooler quarters burned more calories to keep warm. And after three weeks, they weighed less than the toasty warm mice. They were also less likely to develop prostate cancer.

Then there were two other groups of mice, also genetically engineered to develop prostate cancer. Both groups were kept in cages with temperatures 80.6 degrees and 71.6 degrees -- like above. But these mice got to eat whatever their little hearts desired. The mice in cooler cages ate 30 percent more than the mice in warmer cages. They got just as fat as the warm mice. And they all got prostate cancer at the same rate, despite the extra calories.

The moral of the story is this -- being lean rather than obese has a greater protective effect against cancer. Excess calorie retention, rather than consumption, raises cancer risk. This moral stands in contrast to what most researchers believe -- that a restricted diet cuts the risk of and slows the growth of cancer and this is directly related to calorie intake.

Tim Nagy, Ph.D. and professor of nutrition sciences at the University of Alabama, Birmingham and lead researcher on the mice story says when you eat more calories than you burn, you store the extra calories as fat. It's the fat cells -- not the extra calories themselves -- that affect cancer risk.

It's not a good idea for humans to chill themselves to avoid cancer, Nagy says. But perhaps people could get the same effect by exercising more since that, too, burns calories.

Nagy's study appears in the January 1 issue of the journal Cancer Research.

The Southern states are often the butt of jokes when it comes to educational and health programs. Most recently Arkansas received an overall grade of an F by the National Prostate Cancer Coalition. The Washington-based group said the poor rating was partly due to the fact that the state does not have a law requiring insurance companies to cover prostate cancer screenings. Another reason for the failing grade was that in conjunction with the low rates of prostate screening, the state has a high mortality rate due to prostate cancer.

The state of Arkansas defends its position claiming that even with screening, the mortality rate is not greatly effected. In reply, Jamie Bearse, a spokes person for the NPCC says, "Any excuse is a good excuse for a guy not to take care of his health." If the men of Arkansas are prone to this sort of thinking, the prostate cancer mortality rate will only rise. Other states to receive failing grades are Alabama, Idaho, Mississippi and Wisconsin.