Pollution in the Americas: a leading cause of disease burden and an opportunity for cancer prevention

Objective. Environmental and occupational agents are causes of cancer and disease worldwide while their control and the reduction of the associated disease burden remains complex. Materials and methods. This paper summarizes the current status of the burden of environmental and occupational causes of disease in the Americas based on presentations from a panel on environment, occupation and other environmental risk factors for cancer in the Americas, delivered in Panama, at the international conference Promoting Health Equity and Transnational Collaborations for the Prevention and Control of Cancer in the Americas. Results. Three case studies are presented to illustrate the impact of specific environmental and occupational agents and the challenge of control. Conclusions. There are still fully avoidable exposures to carcinogens, as well documented in the case of asbestos in Brazil. Thus, there are abundant targets for intervention to reduce cancer in the Americas.