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London Smog 1952
Devra Davis, the director of the Center for Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute is, according to Nancy White of The Star, a blue-chip cancer epidemiologist with a Grade A scientific pedigree: a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, a decade at the National Academy of Sciences, and the author of more than 170 published articles.
She has just written The Secret History of the War on Cancer (2007, Basic Books), and argues that the long march against cancer has been misled too often by corporate interests and sidetracked by missed opportunities.
Examining notes from meetings as far back as 1936, Davis learned that doctors already knew that ionizing and solar radiation, arsenic, benzene, asbestos, synthetic dyes, and hormones caused cancer, but "the world had very different priorities." Here's a list of rules she follows to reduce her risk of cancer:1. Food: Organic produce, especially fruits whose peels are eaten, and red meat. Overall, she advises eating low on the food chain, which means more produce and grains, and less meat.
2. Cleaning products: Davis looked under her kitchen sink and now buys "baking soda by the 10-pound box and vinegar by the gallon," she says. If a product has a skull and crossbones, don't use it.
3. Non-stick cookware and stain repellents: Davis has tossed out her old, cracked non-stick pans. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), the chemical used to make the non-stick coating, as well as in stain-resistant clothing, waterproof fabrics, has been linked to cancer. Because she is a mountain climber, Davis continues to wear rain-proof gear, but not next to her skin. "You have to make trade-offs," she says.
4. Personal-care items: If the ingredients include parabens-such as butylparaben and methylparaben-try and find an alternative. Parabens, which are widely used as preservatives have shown estrogenic activity in some studies. They have also been found in human breast tumours.
Difficulty level: Easy to moderate
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