ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses aspects of the controversy surrounding the question of environmental cancer, emphasizing the interactions among environmental activists, scientists, and the news media. It discusses the proportion of scientists who rated each choice as a "major" cause (7 to 10 on the scale), a "moderate" (4 to 6) cause, or a "minor" cause (0 to 3). Cancer experts place tobacco in a league of its own among cancer agents. Environmental leaders assigned higher risks than cancer researchers to eleven out of thirteen substances listed on which their estimates were compared. The chapter argues that the views of some environmental activists derive in part from a broader set of political and social attitudes. It is clear that environmental groups were, for many years (and still are), able to capture the interest and support of the media for claims about the views of scientists which are simply inaccurate.
