CIVITAVECCHIA – From Dr. Giovanni Ghirga we receive and publish the open letter addressed to Massimiliano Grasso and Marco Piendibene, mayoral candidates in the next ballot for the Municipality of Civitavecchia:
” Dear Candidates,
a cry for help from the citizens of Civitavecchia to politics: “Cancer boom in Western countries”. The winning path is to focus on prevention, reduce environmental pollution (particularly air pollution) and follow a correct lifestyle.
The numbers are record breaking. In 2024 in the USA, for the first time in history, the threshold of 2 million cancer cases per year will be exceeded. An important growth, common to all Western countries. We are in a real cancer pandemic. Every day in Italy 1,000 people receive a cancer diagnosis, according to Saverio Cinieri, president of the Foundation of the Italian Association of Medical Oncology (1). However, we are on the right path for the chronicity of numerous tumors, while for others we can even talk about recovery.
Many cancers could be prevented if we did not smoke, improved the quality of the air we breathe (2), fought a sedentary lifestyle, reduced excessive alcohol consumption and followed the Mediterranean diet.
The carcinogenesis process lasts many years or even decades. During this period one is apparently healthy and totally asymptomatic, while in truth several factors are already actively promoting this transformation. A classic example is that of cigarette smoking, for which each cigarette smoked induces the carcinogenesis process
Air Pollution and Cancer (2).
Air pollution is found to be associated with numerous types of cancer. It is not surprising and it is well known that air pollution has been linked to lung cancer for some time now. A new study, however, suggests that pollution is also associated with an increased risk of mortality from several other types of cancer, including breast, liver and pancreatic cancer. A pair of researchers, one in Hong Kong and one in Birmingham, UK, studied long-term exposure to environmental fine particulate matter, a mixture of pollutants that come mainly from transport (cars, ships and planes), generation of energy and other sources. Environmental fine particulate matter has an aerodynamic diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers and is known as PM2.5.
The study enrolled 66,280 Hong Kong residents, all aged between 65 and 99 when they were initially recruited between 1998 and 2001. The researchers followed the study subjects through 2011, establishing causes of death from Hong Kong recordings.
Annual PM2.5 concentrations at their homes were estimated using data from satellites and fixed monitors. After adjusting for smoking status and excluding deaths that occurred within three years of baseline to control for diseases some already had, the study showed that for every 10 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3) With increased exposure to PM2.5, the risk of dying from any type of cancer increased by 22 percent. For upper digestive tract cancers the mortality risk was 42 percent higher. For tumors of accessory digestive organs, such as the liver, biliary tract, gallbladder and pancreas, the risk of mortality was 35 percent higher. For breast cancer, the mortality risk was 80 percent higher. Finally, for lung cancer the mortality risk was 36 percent higher. All figures refer to a 10 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5 exposure.
The authors identified some potential explanations for the increased association: pollution could trigger defects in DNA repair function, alterations in the body’s immune response, or inflammation that triggers angiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels that allows tumors to spread. In the case of digestive organs, pollution could instead influence the intestinal microbiota and influence the development of cancer.
The implications for other similar cities around the world are that PM2.5 must be reduced as much as possible and as quickly as possible, including the smallest and most harmful portion, the ultrafine one. Air pollution remains a clear and modifiable public health concern.
This study follows a 2013 review by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) that determined there is enough evidence to say outdoor air pollution can cause cancer in people. Finally, those who give false reassurances are reminded that, according to the WHO, over 99% of the world’s population is exposed to and breathes polluted air (3).
The presence of large sources of pollution in Civitavecchia is associated with a high incidence of cancer, politics cannot hide because its sole purpose must be “The Good of the Citizens”. At the next ballot the mayoral candidates, Massimiliano Grasso and Marco Piendibene, looking the Civitavecchiesi in the eye, will express their position on the matter”
Dr. Giovanni Ghirga, Doctors for the Environment of Civitavecchia
