Fears of real cancer risks allayed

http://news.smh.com.au/fears-of-real-cancer-risks-allayed/20080204-1pyg.html

Breast implants, deodorant and coffee are extremely unlikely to cause cancer, according to a new risk report designed to allay panic that everything can be carcinogenic.

The new risk assessment developed by an Australian cancer specialist puts in perspective the risks of getting the disease from a range of agents, including dental fillings, marijuana and cured meats.

Cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking, deliberate exposure to sunlight and some relatively rare cancer drugs sit in the highest risk bracket for proven carcinogens, said Professor Bernard Stewart, from the University of NSW and South Eastern Sydney and Illawarra Health.

Among the "likely" risks were dope smoking, solarium use, eating large quantities of processed meats and living near a waste dump.

Considered less risky were hair dye use and living near power lines, while there was inadequate evidence for mobile phones, cosmetics and food additives.

Prof Stewart all but ruled out risk for a range of other rumoured carcinogens including artificial sweeteners, coffee, deodorant, dental fillings, breast implants and fluoridated water.

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Your job may cause cancer: research

http://news.smh.com.au/your-job-may-cause-cancer-research/20080204-1pye.html

Hairdressers, sewing machinists, vegetable growers, meat workers, truck drivers and cleaners are among the professions fingered in new research on links between occupation and cancer.

The researchers continue to believe that only about 10 per cent of cancers caused by occupations are reported as such.

It's a totally random thing - like rolling dice. Smoking or whatever may weigh the dice in favour of one outcome, but the outcome is still a random process. You don't know exactly when or if your number is going to come up.