Renal Cancer and its significance
There are many factors that contribute to the risk of kidney problems or renal cancer. Among them is air pollution caused by smoking or exposure to certain chemical materials such as cadmium and lead. These materials are common in the industrial and agricultural industries. Renal cancer is common in people aged 60 and above. Approximately 208,700 new cases of renal cancer are reported each year in the world.
This health problem is more common in Northern America and less common in Asia and Africa. According to the United States’ NIH estimates for 2013, approximately 13,570 deaths from this problem were reported. Furthermore, this health problem continues to increase in the United States. As earlier mentioned, cadmium is one of the primary causes of this health problem in the United States (Järup & Åkesson, 2009).
Cadmium is nephrotoxic (Il’yasova & Schwartz, 2005). It can stay in the kidney of an individual for 10-30 years. It continuously damages kidney tubes hence resulting in renal cancer. Cadmium is introduced to the environment when the tobacco in a cigarette is combusted. The following table shows the percentage of cadmium exposed to the environment by specific human activities (Innes & Haron, 2000).
From the table, it is evident that anthropogenic factors are the main causes of cadmium exposure to the environment. Therefore, to prevent renal cancer, it is crucial to examine the primary causes and look for better strategies to curb the issue.
What is currently being done about this problem?
The World Health Organization has set up recommendations and policies to minimize air pollution caused by cadmium. For instance, it prohibits smoking in public areas. Many countries have implemented this policy to curb renal cancer and other health problems associated with cadmium. Most countries all over the world have ‘gone green.’ Organizations are advised to embark on strategies that stop and reduce air pollution.
For instance, many organizations recycle cadmium wastes. Some nations, particularly those in Northern America, have turned to social media campaigns against air pollution (World health organization, 2010). There are many awareness signs in different industries warning people of the hazards of cadmium. In addition, many organizations all over the world have started to provide their employees with safety measures to reduce their exposure to cadmium.
Moreover, laws have been formulated to ensure that the organizations associated with cadmium products meet specific chemical exposure standards. For instance, the Occupational Safety and Health standards (OSH) encourage countries all over the world to come up with plans that are geared towards promoting job safety and good health. The National Public Health Performance Standards (NPHPS) have also been put in place to curb health problems (World Health Organization, 2010).
Additional assistance needed for this problem
The World Health Organization should intervene and ensure that every country creates and implements laws to curb air pollution. There is also a need to keep medical surveillance records, air monitoring records, and training records to ensure that every country, organization, and person adopt safety measures against the risk of renal cancer. Moreover, community public health or stewardship intervention should be incorporated to curb renal cancer. For instance, programs should be developed to educate, inform, and create awareness on the dangers of air pollution and exposure to cadmium.
References
Il’yasova, D., & Schwartz, G. G. (2005). Cadmium and renal cancer. Toxicology & Applied Pharmacology, 207(2), 179-186.
Innes, J. L., & Haron, A. H. (2000). Air pollution and the forests of developing and rapidly industrializing regions: Report no. 4 of the IUFRO Task Force on Environmental Change. Wallingford, Oxon, UK: CABI Pub.
Järup, L., & Åkesson, A. (2009). Current status of cadmium as an environmental health problem. Toxicology & Applied Pharmacology, 238(3), 201-208.
World Health Organization. (2010). Public health and environment. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO Document production services.