Abstract |
This is the First Annual Report to Congress of the Task Force on Environmental Cancer and Heart and Lung Disease, as required by Section 402 of Public Law 95-95. The problem of environmentally related cancer, heart and lung disease is very complex. In order that the problem could be analyzed and acted upon in sufficient depth, the Task Force limited its scope of activities for this first year in two ways. First, only one etiological factor--chemical pollutants present in the ambient and workplace environment--was considered. Other factors such as smoking, nutrition, radiation, etc., were deferred for future years. Secondly, with reference to the charges given by Congress, only interagency coordination and research programs to determine and quantify relationships between pollution and diseases were addressed in this first years. Information on existing programs relevant to the Task Force's responsibilities, and consistent with the above scope, was collected and is presented in this report. Total expenditures by the agencies for research into relations between cancer, heart and lung disease and chemical pollution were approximately 207 million dollars in FY 1977. In order to see a short-term trend in the efforts, information on actual and planned funding for FY 1977, 1978, and 1979 was displayed. The Task Force considered possible approaches for evaluating the effectiveness of various sectors of the overall Federal effort to resolve problems of environmentally related cancer, heart and lung disease. |