Plea to look at fly spray link to cancer

Fly sprays and head lice treatment could be causing breast cancer but present strategies to deal with the disease fail to even consider this, a parliamentary committee has heard.

The Breast Cancer Network told Parliament's health committee yesterday that there was a body of evidence overseas that associated many of the chemicals used domestically in New Zealand to breast cancer.

Health officials have accepted that possibility, but say there is no conclusive evidence linking specific chemicals to breast cancer. Until there is, consumers would have to weigh the benefits of using products with any possible health risks, the Health Ministry's principal adviser on cancer control, John Childs, said.

The hearing was in response to an 11,000-signature petition calling for an enhanced breast cancer strategy, presented to Parliament last year by Barbara Mason and Gillian Woods, of the Breast Cancer Network.

The petition seeks an acknowledgment that synthetic chemicals in the environment, including those found in plastics, cosmetics, food and pesticides, have a role in the development of breast cancer.

Network member Meriel Watts presented the committee with research, to be published next week, that identified 98 pesticide ingredients that may increase the risk of breast cancer – 43 of which are in use in New Zealand.

They include lindane, which is commonly used in head lice treatments, and a range of synthetic pyrethroids found in fly sprays.

"Ninety-nine per cent of housewives would have no clue that they are exposing themselves to chemicals that could be causing breast cancer, either in themselves or their children at a later date," Dr Watts said.

She acknowledged that it was impossible to prove pesticide chemicals caused breast cancer, but urged a precautionary approach to reduce the risks of breast cancer by stopping exposure to the pesticides.

Director-General of Health Stephen McKernan said if conclusive evidence linking specific chemicals to breast cancer was to emerge, those chemicals would be replaced with safer alternatives.

He said New Zealand's population size meant it was not feasible to implement a specific breast cancer strategy. At present, the strategy was to tackle the top 10 cancers as a whole and splitting resources over different types could be ineffective.

- © Fairfax NZ News