A systematic approach to reducing the risk of industrially related cancer

One specific concern that has received public attention in recent times is the possible risk of cancer from exposure to industrial chemicals. Although it is not known presently how much cancer is caused by exposure to chemicals from industry, and although the amount is believed by many to be low, responsible corporate actions to reduce the threat of industrially related cancer must be a part of daily business. Even though the personal and emotional impacts of cancer pose a great difficulty in dealing with its risk, if we take a realistic view, it is possible to place the risk into a more manageable perspective and thereby not impede our efforts toward abating it. To that end, we have developed a four stage process for making decisions about cancer risk and actions to reduce it, together with a system for classifying risks as "high," or "low," or "insignificant." The four stages are: hazard identification, hazard evaluation, risk evaluation and risk response. A proper understanding and use of this systematic process by legislative and regulatory bodies could lead to more rational decisions about how to best allocate society's finite resources so as to reduce cancer risks as soon as possible for the largest number of people. Use of this process will also accelerate the handling of the most significant risks first and, until our complex societal mechanisms move to determine what is acceptable risk, it will give us in industry a means for setting priorities and moving in a clearly desirable direction.