Cancer chemicals killing tens of thousands, says TUC
Cancer chemicals killing tens of thousands, says TUC
Britain is facing an occupational cancer epidemic that could be killing up to 24,000 people every year, four times official estimates, according to an authoritative new TUC report.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) says that just four per cent of the UK's annual cancer death toll is as a result of exposure to carcinogens at work, which it says is equal to 6,000 deaths a year. But a new report by Hazards, the TUC-backed health and safety magazine, concludes that the incidence of occupational cancer in the UK is much higher, and suggests that it is between 12,000 and 24,000 deaths a year.
'Burying the evidence' says that the reason why official figures so underestimate the scale of the problem in the UK is because HSE's strategy is based on US research conducted 25 years ago which systematically excluded most occupational cancers. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: 'Much more could be done to prevent workers being needlessly exposed to potentially life-threatening chemicals and toxins, but a massive underestimation of the problem is jeopardising people's lives.' He added: 'Six thousand deaths a year from occupational cancers is terrible enough, but the tragedy is that the real death toll is much, much higher. Every day workers are being exposed to harmful substances such as formaldehyde and nickel that could be responsible for tomorrow's cancers.' Report recommendations include the creation of a properly resourced government awareness and prevention campaign and a phase-out of the most dangerous cancer-causing substances.
- TUC news release. Burying the evidence, Hazards magazine, number 92, 2005. Hazards subscription details.
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