Environment, Cancer, and the Need for Awareness

"Children are the victims of the waste trade; I still vividly remember the tear-filled eyes of my two-year-old child. We live in a burning and toxic land." These opening sentences are from the speech of "Anna Magri," a woman who lost her child to acute leukemia nearly six years ago. She is not the only mother currently active in a group of mothers working to clean residential and natural areas from hazardous waste. The group "Mothers from the Burning Land" has been active for nearly five years with the support of groups of young environmental activists and a religious group called "Giovanni Conzo" to raise awareness about the significant increase in cancer statistics in certain areas of southern Italy (Sicily, Naples, Calabria). The issue took shape when they sent a letter to government officials, which received sympathy from the President and Prime Minister of Italy, but there was no practical response regarding changes in the burial, separation, recycling, and destruction of waste abandoned in rivers, beaches, forests, foothills close to residential areas, and other environmental areas. Given that the nature of these regions in Italy is exemplary worldwide, they took it upon themselves to inform textile workshops, tire manufacturing factories, tire retailers, and other polluting industries on one side, and students and schoolchildren on the other. Their audience was divided into two groups: on one side were those who caused pollution, and on the other, a group that, as the future generation of the country, needed to be informed about the state of their land. Some environmental organizations always attribute rising cancer rates to poor dietary habits, excessive smoking, and alcohol consumption, but this group attempted to draw the collective consciousness of society to this issue by presenting statistics on children with cancer who had no genetic history or animals that died from rare diseases. In fact, they are a group that has begun to raise awareness in the face of the negligence of the power system; an effort to change the culture of living, awaken public and individual conscience, and revive hope in cancer patients and their families. According to these individuals, abandoning industrial, chemical, and household waste in nature without protection and safety measures, as well as burning unseparated waste and leaving their ashes and smoke, can severely pollute water, soil, and air. In one case in Calabria, a company responsible for burying waste from a paint factory used plastic containers instead of corrosion-resistant metal containers for storing chemicals for profit. After a short time, the buried plastic barrels containing dangerous toxic materials decayed and decomposed, releasing toxins and absorbing them into the soil through water, which dried out orange trees kilometers around the area. Improperly burning waste, despite its high cost, can significantly increase the risk of forest fires and pollution. The "Land in My Hands" initiative helped these individuals to raise awareness through photo exhibitions and short film screenings in the form of a tour and to call on active environmental groups to pressure private and public organizations that benefit from this situation. In part of an open letter from this group to private institutions and the people of Italy, it states: "See how much toxic waste is released per capita in the forests and the burning waste and the unpleasant odor that has captured nature for every Italian? How much is spent on cleaning and planting trees from the profits of factory owners and organized groups that buy these wastes and store them in our homeland? We demand the truth and justice. Some of us have handed our children under two years old into the arms of death in hospitals and still have not found more than a few lines of explanation for their deaths. Enough has been played with words and laws, and human lives, trees, and nature remain at risk." Cancer, health, and the environment in Iran It seems we are also facing a similar experience in many cities in Iran. The increase in cancer statistics and the change in its types, along with the decrease in the age of onset, on one hand, and the high consumption of agricultural pesticides, industrial waste production, and abundant evidence of the abandonment of various industrial, hospital, and agricultural wastes in nature, on the other hand, can have a significant correlation. What is noteworthy in the geography of Iran regarding this issue or related environmental damage issues is that the media should be able to report freely on these matters, and the relevant authorities should be honest with citizens about the causes and environmental problems. Officials must accept that the reduced ability of people to buy vegetables, fruits, fish, and dairy products on one hand and the difficulty of finding these food items in a healthy form on the other hand is a harm that is more influenced by economic capacity and proper organizational oversight than by dietary culture. Additionally, following up on groups and institutions that, while maintaining significant profits and sometimes organized greed, grant themselves permission to pollute groundwater, surface water, forests, and air, and easily evade any form of environmental and human compensation, as well as the role of organizations and civil institutions working around this disease (cancer) is also very significant. According to experts and doctors, cancer is one of those diseases that shows itself very late, and its treatment is very slow and costly, so it would be better and more beneficial if some of these groups focused their activities on the causes of this disease and, in collaboration with affected families, environmental groups, and educational support, negotiate and inform to resolve factors that facilitate the pollution of drinking water and food (from pesticide-laden fruits and vegetables irrigated with wastewater to imported foodstuffs containing harmful preservatives). Ultimately, it seems that if the ecosystem of the Earth is the home of all its inhabitants, experiences of support and preservation can also be shared without regard to geographical borders among citizens. And if organizations, governments, and power institutions pursue more economic interests without considering the health of future generations and the peace and comfort of today's citizens, why should citizens who care about living healthily, respecting all rights of nature, and are concerned about the lives and health of the inhabitants of this sphere not stand together and support each other?