Tales of occupational cancer

Cancer, once rare, is now the biggest killer of humans. Its rising incidence triggered President Nixon’s declaration of war on this still-dreaded diagnosis in 1971. Far less well-known is the coalition of moneyed forces, sometimes corrupting the most eminent of epidemiologists. This coalition has acted effectively to suppress and undermine this war – the secret war on the war on cancer. The rise in cancer is not due solely to the ageing of the population, but in part to large-scale population exposure to a wide range of carcinogens, many of which are occupational. Once, all carcinogens were naturally occurring, but in the last century, an increasing range of synthetic molecules have been manufactured; some of which are also highly carcinogenic. This chapter, drawn from The Secret History of the War on Cancer (Davis, 2007) gives a taste of many cases in which occupational health has been placed well below the interest of corporations, enabling lower consumer prices. In some cases, tentative industry sympathy to the worker has given way to active suppression, but in most cases, industry and employers have refused any liability or responsibility. Particular attention is paid in this chapter to the relationship between vinyl chloride and cancer