30-07-2014, 04:22 PM
The Effect Regions Have on the Beliefs of Cancerous Man-Made Chemicals
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Introduction
Cancer has been known as one of the top ten leading causes of death in America. It has been statistically known to cause 575,000 deaths per year. Cancer is the number four leading cause of death according to Zack Fulkerson’s research who is a writer for PolyMic. (cite: http://www.policymicarticles/24365/9-lea...ted-states) Cancer has many causes and some believe that man-made chemicals can cause cancer. Although many have this belief, not many have viewed how one’s region can affect one’s belief of whether man-made chemicals can cause cancer. This is exactly why research on this particular topic is important to evolve with. The independent variable in this case would be one’s region such as northeast, northwest, southeast, southwest. The dependent variable would be whether man-made chemicals cause cancer. Therefore, the research question would be does one’s region affect whether they believe man-made chemicals cause cancer? For instance, one’s belief may vary depending on one’s region. One in a southeast region may have a different belief than one who lives in a northeast region of whether man-made chemicals cause cancer. A hypothesis that can be drawn from these ideas is that man-made chemicals are most associated with the cause of cancer depending on what kind of environment is within that region. With one living in an environment near a more industrialized region rather than an agricultural region, their beliefs may gravitate more to the belief that man-made chemicals cause cancer. However, one who lives in an agricultural region may not believe that man-made chemicals cause cancer.
Results of the Research
Cancer survivors in Colorado, who have survived prostate, colorectal, as well as breast cancer, believe that environmental factors such as pollution along with food additives plays some role in the cause of their cancer. (Wold et al. 2003).For instance, according to scientists a study of the residents around the Love Canal area in New York state that high rates of cancer, such as bladder cancer, are believed to occur in that residential area due to the many landfills placed there of which are encumbered with extreme amounts of man-made chemicals. Statistically, residents living close to hazardous waste sites reported to believe that those waste sites causes respiratory cancer (Schreinemachers, Garry, and Creason 1999). These reports verify greatly that one’s residence is quite prevalent in what they believe causes certain cancers such as bladder and respiratory cancer. Teenagers residing in New York City as well as Los Angeles reported that “urban air pollutants in a population of high school teenagers in New York and Los Angeles” exist on extreme levels (1558, Spengler et. al 2006). The population consisted of forty-six high school participants in New York City and forty-one participants in Los Angeles (Spengler et al. 2006). These beliefs highlight that, not only do cancer patients along with adults believe one’s region affects their beliefs on how man-made chemicals cause cancer, but how teenagers have similar views as well. While cancer patients in Colorado do not believe that man-made chemicals are the core cause of cancer, residents in New York do believe that they do have a strong effect. This trend in New York enlightens the idea that urban regions such as New York are mostly populated with hazardous waste sites as well as highly polluted atmospheres; the residents of New York appear to be greatly aware of this. Urban along with metropolitan regions such as New York were the most expected types of regions on my caliber of expectations for the beliefs that man-made chemicals cause cancer due to the heavy industrialization industry that exist in those metropolitan regions. The article, “Cancer Mortality in Agricultural Regions of Minnesota”, supported the idea that agricultural regions such as South-Central Minnesota, West-Central Minnesota, along with Northwest Minnesota resulted with surveys that highlighted that
Another study that corresponds with the belief that man-made chemicals cause cancer is the studied focused group, women in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The article, “Perchloroethylene-Contaminated Drinking Water and the Risk of Breast Cancer: Additional Results from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA” targeted the beliefs of women with similar demographics as well as residents of similar regions. Women with breast cancer in the Cape Cod, Massachusetts region stated that PCE (Perchloroethylene) was considered the main man-made chemical that they were exposed to within the water they drank as well as within their homes which caused them to have cancer leaving them with the belief that this chemical along with many other man-made chemicals causes cancer.
Conclusion
Overall, the results of the research reviewed indicate one’s region does affect their belief about how man-made chemicals cause cancer. Residents of regions of which are in urban as well as metropolitan environments have beliefs that their environments are filled with additives along with pollutants due to nearby hazardous waste sites and as well as polluted atmospheres. Elements such as their drinking water have been affected. Cancers such as respiratory, colorectal, and prostate has been all results of how man-made chemicals cause cancer as well. While these regions appear to be, the most affected, agricultural regions appear to be affected by these chemicals as well. Minnesota has been a support of that statement. While most of my results supported the idea of man-made chemicals causing cancer, the region of Colorado differed. The cancer patients of this region believed that man-made chemicals played a small role in their diagnosis of cancer and believed that other factors such as behavior along with heredity caused their cancers otherwise.