Where the environment is most polluted, the risk of getting cancer is higher. A correlation already known, but to which is added another bad news. After developing an oncological disease, in fact, those who live in these places also have a greater probability of dying from it. The black jersey goes to the province of Lodi, followed by those of Naples, Bergamo, Pavia, Sondrio, Cremona, Gorizia, Caserta, Brescia and Piacenza. They have the thud of a slap in the face, the conclusions of an Italian study published, although not in its final version, in the journal Science of Total Environment. A work that confirms how environmental pollution represents one of the main threats for the onset of various forms of cancer, but also for their progression towards forms with a poor prognosis. “Cancer mortality exceeds the national average in the provinces where there is a higher concentration of polluting sources”, is what the team of researchers who conducted the study put in black and white. From which comes a warning to politics. “We ask that research priorities and actions to be implemented in the oncology field be reviewed. Preventing or reducing environmental contamination must be one of the first steps to be taken against the increase in cancer cases “.
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Impact of major pollution in Northern Italy
According to the researchers, the situation of the Po Valley and some socio-economic characteristics of this territory (from the use of agriculture and intensive farming to the presence of large industrial sites) make the impact of tumors heavier. And this despite – on average – the inhabitants have healthier lifestyles, greater economic opportunities and to turn to a greater number of specialized centers than the same data that can be found in a large part of the South. The authors, coordinated by Roberto Cazzolla Gatti (associate of conservation biology at the University of Bologna), have divided the Italian regions into three groups. Those included in the first (Friuli Venezia Giulia, Veneto, Trentino Alto Adige, Liguria, Emilia Romagna, Lazio, Abruzzo and Puglia) and in the third (Val d’Aosta, Piedmont, Lombardy, Tuscany and Marche) are united by a greater impact of oncological diseases, although they present significant differences (between them) in the numbers of smokers and people who are overweight or obese. The second group includes those characterized by low rates of industrialization and population density (Umbria, Campania, Molise, Basilicata, Calabria, Sicily and Sardinia) and which show a reduced impact of pollution and cancer.
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Those who lead a healthy lifestyle are also more at risk
The researchers’ work consisted in delving into the link between pollution of various origins and borne by different matrices – air, soil, water – and mortality caused by oncological diseases. An aspect less considered so far, compared to that concerning the incidence. The results, which confirmed the link hypothesized by the authors, appear to be independent of lifestyles. This is the case of cigarette smoking, sedentary lifestyle, overweight and obesity: as well as the availability of access to care. Aspects – considered in the comparison on a regional basis – that concur in determining or not a diagnosis of cancer and in defining the probabilities of successful treatment, but which do not seem to have a sufficient impact on the overall mortality figure.
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Pollution, a risk factor not only for lung cancer
The consequences – in terms of increased risk of incidence and mortality for 16 different forms of cancer – are also linked to the different polluting sources to which one is exposed. The work confirms, for example, how tumors that can affect the gastrointestinal system (mouth, esophagus, stomach, colorectal, liver and pancreas) are more frequent in areas characterized by a massive use of intensive agriculture and in urban areas. where there are large industrial sites. Characteristics that contribute to worsening the quality of air, water and land as a result of the use of pesticides, exposure to multiple allergens and the release into the air of carcinogenic substances for humans (dioxins and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons). The extension of a city was also related to a greater impact of tumors affecting the respiratory system (trachea, bronchi and lungs).
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The presence of contaminated sites awaiting remediation was instead a risk factor for the onset of skin and central nervous system neoplasms. While it would be the proximity of a steel mill to undermine the health of the kidneys, bladder and prostate: organs whose health is also affected by the proximity of landfills, combustion and illegal waste disposal. As for female cancers (breast, uterus, ovary), according to the researchers “they are not linked to a cause [ambientale] specific, but to a combination of factors present in the place where you live “, such as poor air quality, high urban extension and vehicle density, the use of intensive agriculture, the presence of contaminated sites, steel mills or chemical industries.
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