Cancer Risk from Chemical Exposure

Panel says cancer risk from chemical exposure underestimated.
The CBS Evening News (5/6, story 5, 2:00, Couric) reported, "The risk of getting cancer is often linked to our genetics and choices like smoking, but...a presidential panel" in a new report says "it's time to take a hard look at the environment for potentially cancer-causing chemicals in our daily lives, like the water we drink and the household products we use."
The Washington Post (5/7, Layton) reports that "epidemiologists have long maintained that tobacco use, diet and other factors are responsible for most cancers, and that chemicals and pollutants cause only a small portion -- perhaps five percent." However, "the presidential panel said that figure has been 'grossly underestimated,' but it did not provide a new estimate."
On its website, CBS News (5/6, LaPook) reported that "the presidential panel notes more than 80,000 chemicals are used in the United States and only a few hundred have been tested for safety."
American Cancer Society critical of new report. The New York Times (5/7, A16, Grady) reports that "Dr. Michael Thun, an epidemiologist from the [American Cancer Society], said in an online statement that the report was 'unbalanced by its implication that pollution is the major cause of cancer,' and had presented an unproven theory -- that environmentally caused cases are grossly underestimated -- as if it were a fact." The ACS "estimates that about six percent of all cancers in the United States -- 34,000 cases a year -- are related to environmental causes (four percent from occupational exposures, two percent from the community or other settings)." Arguing "that the risk is much higher, when there is no proof, may divert attention from things that are much bigger causes of cancer, like smoking, Dr. Thun said in an interview."