Secondhand smoke rears its ugly head once again -- this time in the form of study results revealing high levels of secondhand smoke in the workplace can double the risk of lung cancer for non-smokers.

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago looked at results from 22 studies conducted in the United States, Canada, Europe, India, Japan, and China. What they found -- and published in the American Journal of Public Health -- is a lung cancer risk 50 percent higher than normal for non-smokers exposed to smoke on the job for more than 30 years. They also found risk increases with level of exposure.

"We believe that our study provides the strongest evidence to date that smoking in the workplace does present a substantial risk to workers -- and particularly to workers who are working in highly exposed areas such as bar workers or restaurant workers," lead researcher Leslie Stayner said.

Previous evidence for increased lung cancer risk caused by secondhand smoke comes from studies of non-smokers married to smokers.

Secondhand smoke -- also known as passive smoke and environmental tobacco smoke -- is smoke from a cigarette, pipe, or cigar as well as smoke exhaled from the lungs of smokers and inhaled by non-smokers. It can cause cancer, respiratory problems, and asthma in non-smokers and is leading to increased efforts by communities to ban or limit smoking in the workplace.

This week in France, bans begin in offices, stores, schools, and hospitals. Come January 2008, cafes and restaurants must also comply with bans. For now, smoking in these areas is permitted in hermetically sealed rooms without any services.

Glenn Close is the 2006 Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) ambassador to the Saks Fifth Avenue Key to the Cure campaign. Oscar de la Renta is the 2006 designer of the Key to the Cure t-shirt -- available now at Saks Fifth Avenue stores for the price of $35. For each t-shirt purchase, $31 will benefit EIF's Women's Cancer Research Fund. T-shirts are available on-line and in retails stores everywhere.

All Saks Fifth Avenue retail stores and Saks.com will contribute to Key to the Cure by donating 2 percent of all profits during October 12-15. Off Fifth stores will donate 1 percent of profits during the same time period to benefit local and national women's cancer charities.

Key to the Cure is a women's cancer initiative founded in partnership with EIF's Women's Cancer Research Fund. The program receives on-going support from Mercedes-Benz USA -- set to donate one million dollars to the cause. EIF is the entertainment industry's leading charitable organization and has shared hundreds of millions of dollars in support of critical issues facing our society. Like breast cancer.

Isothiocyanates, chemical compounds found in cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts and watercress are able to kill cancer cells that have become resistant to chemotherapy drugs, according to the Free Radical Research Group research team from Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Otago.

Basically, isothiocyanates drive cancer cells, and the protein Bcl-2 that seems to aid cancer cells in surviving, to apoptosis or in more descriptive terms -- a self-destructing suicide. The researchers are hoping this discovery might lead to the development of cancer-fighting drugs derived from isothiocyanates.

In the meantime, as they work on better cancer-fighting drugs based on beneficial chemical compounds found in foods, it won't hurt us to eat more veggies. Okay, except for the current recall of E. coli contaminated spinach. Right now, don't eat your spinach.

While the study suggests that not all cruciferous vegetable are equal in the ability to kill cancer cells, and specifically refers only to broccoli, Brussels sprouts and watercress -- other cruciferous vegetables include arugula, cauliflower, cabbage, Bok Choy, rutabaga, Chinese cabbage, Daikon, radishes, turnips, kohlrabi, kale, and turnip, mustard and collard greens.

More pink is popping up -- this time on the shelves of Yankee Candle stores where pretty pink candles are displayed with labels of pretty pink breast cancer ribbons. Yankee Candle is proud to support the fight against breast cancer and is featuring the scent Fresh Cut Roses in 14.5 oz. jars for this special cause. A portion of all proceeds will be donated for breast cancer research and awareness. This candle -- a special and limited edition -- costs $19.99 and can be purchased in retail stores or on-line.

Yankee Candle has always been active in charitable endeavors and seeks to make a strong, positive impact on the communities in which they do business. They support the United Way and the American Heart Association -- and now they support breast cancer initiatives too.

On Monday, the sale of a Japanese brand of aloe juice was banned by the Department of Health after it was determined that it contains high levels of benzene -- seven times more than the World Health Organization recommends for maximum levels in water. Benzene is a colorless and flammable liquid with a sweet smell and was once used as an additive in gasoline. It is carcinogenic -- and has been cause for concern worldwide. So samples of the drink, produced by the Japansese cosmetics brand DHC, will be sent to the Bureau of Food and Drug Analysis for further investigation due to such concerns. In the meantime, the sale of this aloe juice, sold in convenience stores and through mail-order, will be suspended.

There is a vaccine that Scripps Research Institute in California researchers are working with that shows positive results in slowing down a key hunger hormone that keeps rats from gaining weight regardless of how much the rats ate -- although they caution that just because it works in rats does not mean it will work the same way in humans or that it will be a safe vaccine for humans.

This is all relatively new science, as the hormone, called Ghrelin, the researchers are testing the vaccine on was just discovered about seven years ago. The researchers do know that the hormone controls appetite in animals and humans and the current research might prove valuable in discovering more about the connections between hunger and weight gain; how the body stores fat and how to influence the hunger hormone.

At this point in time, if you are a rat concerned about controlling your weight, it's good news. Long-term, if it does show the same benefit for humans, the researchers speculate a vaccine might be developed that helps people who struggle with weight gain and loss maintain a steady and healthy weight. You know it is only a matter of time before they discover and develop something along this line, as obesity is a major threat to health for a number of diseases including cancer.

Safeway, a major-chain grocery store, announced that it has raised a whopping $5.1 million dollars during its Prostate Cancer Awareness Month fundraiser in June. In just six years, Safeway has raised more than $17.8 million dollars to benefit the Prostate Cancer Foundation for prostate cancer awareness and research.

In addition to the traditional solicited customer donations at checkstands they do each year, Safeway also attributes its fundraising success this year to Safeway employees who held parking lot barbecues, carnivals, book sales, and raffles.

As I said in an earlier post about Safeway's fundraising abilities, they are one of the most effective organizations to raise donations for cancer charity. Because it is seldom possible to get out of a grocery store without spending several hundred dollars, adding one more dollar for a worthy cause is easy to agree to do.

If you are looking for an inspirational gift for a woman newly-diagnosed with breast cancer -- or for a breast cancer survivor -- Elisa Ilana Custom Designs sells exquisitely beautiful hand-crafted one-of-a-kind jewelry. As they advertise, nothing is mass produced as each piece is carefully made by hand, one at a time in their studio, and each piece is made with the finest metals, semi-precious stones, crystals, and handmade glass and lampwork beads available. The breast cancer bracelets are made from the highest quality Swarovski crystal, sterling silver and 14 karat filled gold balls.

The Spectacular Cancer Awareness Bracelet has been featured in Vogue, In Style, W, Bon Appetit, Vanity Fair, Lucky, and Architectural Digest. The company guarantees that the jewelry is made to be sturdy and long-lasting.

Being surrounded by beautiful things and having treasured reminders of love and joy lift the spirit. I know each gift I was given carried me through the grueling days when I was struggling through cancer treatments. It wasn't always jewelry, and it never has to be jewelry, but if you are considering jewelry, when I discovered the Elisa Ilana cancer awareness jewelry collection I thought the jewelry was delightful. And very pretty.

Most of us know her as Elyse Keaton on the long-time ago sitcom Family Ties. Many also know her from the variety of characters she has portrayed on television specials and movies. And Meredith Baxter is also known for her support of breast cancer research -- something not so apparent or obvious but just as significant in the scope of her life in the spotlight. Like many issues she speaks out on -- women's rights, gun control, state legislative matters -- breast cancer is an issue about which she is passionate. She has appeared at Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walks and presented gifts to the cause of breast cancer research and has starred in the 1994 television movie My Breast -- about a woman who successfully battles breast cancer. And she also has her own Meredith Baxter Foundation for Breast Cancer Research which began when she donated $10,000 to the University of Minnesota Cancer Center where her foundation was started. Much of the funding for this foundation comes from Baxter herself via the profits she makes from her own skin care products that are available in gift stores around the country. She says that life has been so kind to her that she was looking for a way to share her good fortune. So she took her concern about breast cancer prevention into the business arena. And just as she soared to success as one of the best-known TV moms, Meredith Baxter is soaring to new heights -- where she hopes to help prevent and one day cure breast cancer.

Wal-Mart has announced it will no longer sell children's clothing found to be contaminated with a cancer-causing chemical. According to the Beijing News, the stores, located in China, were selling nine different brands of children's clothing that contained a dye that has been identified as a carcinogen and linked to cancer. The public relation spokesperson for Wal-Mart in China declined to state whether or not the same brands of children's clothing had found their way onto U.S. Wal-Mart store shelves. Although I am certain we will soon hear from a Wal-Mart public relation spokesperson here in the U.S. regarding this matter.