PREFACE
As Malaysians grow more affluent and as our society modernizes in the mould of Western societies, Malaysians and humankind are faced with two menacing problems - an increase in the use of dangerous toxic chemicals in our daily lives and a corresponding increase in cancers to epidemic levels. Cancer has become a leading cause of illness and death in
For first time in
CHEMICALS DEADLIER THAN RADIATION
All these harmful chemicals found in our everyday product – combined with the pollution of our air and water, consumption of cancer-causing drugs and food additives, and exposure to dangerous chemicals on the job and in the home – increases our risk of getting cancer.
According to reports, chemical carcinogens are probably responsible for more cancer than radiation is.
As with radiation, no level of exposure to these substances can be considered safe. Any exposure might initiate the process of malignant transformation or promote one that has already begun.
Also every exposure adds to the burden on the body’s systems of defence against malignancy. (Even when chemicals do not directly cause cancer, they may do so indirectly by adding to the cumulative stress on our immune systems.) Breakdown of those defences is the crucial event in the development of cancer.
Some of the information on such damaging chemicals has been available for several years – and in the case of NDELA, decades (!) – but is not widely known because it has not been publicised outside the medical community.
According to estimates, it can take up to 20 years for scientific health information to become general knowledge. But you don’t have to wait till 2020 to find out what cancer-causing ingredients are in your cosmetics.
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