JHM Journalism Foundation » The Johnnies » 2008 Winners » News
2008 Winners - News (2nd place)
Carcinogens causing concern on campus
By Natasha Marar
Lance (University of Windsor)
University of Windsor sociology professor Jim Brophy’s study of breast cancer patients and their occupational histories is underway at a time when carcinogens on campus spark concerns for some workers.
Brophy, who is also the Director of the Occupational Health Clinic in Sarnia, was motivated to undertake this project after his previous study of 1,200 subjects indicated a greater occurrence of breast cancer in women who worked in the agricultural industry because of their exposure to certain pesticides.
“Based on these findings we are now engaged in interviewing one thousand women with breast cancer and one thousand community controls,” explained Brophy, who is targeting individuals that work in the farming, healthcare, and auto industries.
“In particular we are going after these three groups because they have showed an elevated risk,” said Brophy. “We want to get at this question of exposure.”
Brophy, who is working alongside Occupational Health Clinic co-ordinator, Dr. Margaret Keith, expects to complete the interviewing process by next January.
“It will be a year or so before we even have preliminary results, but I think over time we are going to find out a lot of information,” maintained Brophy.
Over the last 13 years, Brophy has secured almost $1 million in funding for his research initiatives. This current study has garnered financial support from the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, which is largely concerned with primary prevention research.
“They just gave us another $40,000 to continue collecting information,” said Brophy. “We also got a grant from the Windsor Essex County Cancer Foundation for another $20,000.”
Brophy’s work, linking carcinogen exposure in the workplace to cancer, is being considered by Human Resources for the University, who is conducting a smaller-scale investigation into recent cancer diagnoses and deaths among Essex Hall workers in the past few years.
“There has been a much closer look paid to what might be causing what seems like cases of unusual cancers, said engineering professor Dr. Derek Northwood, who has worked in Essex Hall for 28 years.
According to Northwood, air quality tests conducted by the University indicate nothing that would be a cause for concern.
Human Resources has decided to probe further by requesting faculty, staff, and graduate students to volunteer their medical histories to be studied through Cancer Care Ontario.
“I certainly don’t mind being included,” said Northwood. “I think they should do it for the whole university not just the people in Essex Hall.”
Engineering professor Gary Rankin, a 39-year Essex Hall veteran, is also aware of the possible link between carcinogens and the recent cancer cases.
“I know a number of people here who have had problems with cancer,” said Rankin. “Certainly it’s a concern.”
While Rankin said the number of cancer cases seems to be more than a coincidence, he exhibits confidence in the Chemical Control Centre located in the building.
“All the chemicals are handled properly in a special facility for chemical control, explained Rankin. “I personally feel quite safe working in Essex Hall.”
Considering the large number of chemicals used in the building, it is hard to locate a carcinogen, if any, which may be responsible for the recent cancer cases.
“I don’t think there is a pollutant that people can point to and say “get rid of this,” said Northwood.
Laura Lozanski, Health and Safety Officer for the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT), would argue otherwise.
The CAUT’s Health and Safety Department campaigns for the removal of asbestos products on university campuses, and has begun a national database to record asbestos-related illnesses among university employees.
Used as a fireproofer and in such products as building insulators, ceiling tiles, vinyl floor tiles, and plaster, asbestos are long-lasting fibrous minerals that promote or cause cancer once they become friable due to building renovations or deterioration.
“Once you get an asbestos induced cancer it’s fatal,” said Lozanski who, indicated that asbestos diseases have a latency period of 20 to 40 years.
Despite its ban in over 30 countries, Lozanski said that asbestos is still found in many older buildings in Canada including Essex Hall and several others at the University of Windsor.
“It’s widespread amongst all the universities in Canada,” explained Lozanski.
Asbestos can be found in the Biology Building, Chrysler Hall, Erie Hall, Lambton Tower, and the Leddy Library among others.
Over the years, the University has completely removed asbestos in buildings like Memorial Hall, Dillon Hall, and the CAW Student Centre. Newer buildings such as the St. Denis Athletic and Community Centre and the Odette School of Business were constructed free of asbestos.
Although annual inspections help ensure that friable asbestos are removed, some locations in Essex Hall, such as the mechanical rooms, indicate deteriorating asbestos material according to a report released the University’s Asbestos Management Committee.
Essex Hall is not the only building on campus with weakening asbestos. The Biology Building, for instance, has visible asbestos on inspected ceilings.
“There has always been concern about exposures in Essex Hall,” said Brophy.
Environmental exposures outside the building may be just as important in determining any correlation with the cancer cases.
“There’s a general question that has always been here, about the west end [of Windsor], and [its] proximity to the bridge,” said Northwood. “Essex Hall is one of the closest buildings to the bridge.”
According to the Windsor Essex County Health Unit’s Health Status Report, 22 per cent of ground level ozone, a major element in smog, is created by transportation. The heavy amount of transportation in Windsor West does impact air quality around the University.
A 2005 report by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment indicates that the number of poor air quality days in Windsor that year, 37, was almost double the amount found in downtown Toronto.
“Environmental and occupational exposures have been completely ignored by the major cancer agencies,” said Brophy. “They are focused on lifestyle causes of cancer, not with involuntary causes.”
“And when this project is over in January, there will be no more occupational histories collected, and I think that is a great disappointment to me.”
