CARF helps fight with a $400 cheque
IN December 2002, a new Bermuda cancer charity, CARF (Cancer Assistance Research Foundation), was founded in the hope of helping to win the war on the growing rate of cancer claiming the lives of many in the island.
For many of the recipients, this move has been hailed as making the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel that much better.
A $400 cheque was presented to research consultant Dr. Jaime Bacon, who has been an invaluable asset to the charity.
One of the studies is aimed towards the effects of environmental contaminants, mainly petroleum hydrocarbons and metals, but also pesticides and fertilisers, which are among the culprits of known carcinogens.
According to a CARF source: “Our research consultant wishes to look into various research both in Bermuda and overseas. Surveys must be completed by all and compared with other cultures.
“Are certain cancers genetic, environmental or triggered by intake? Is there any connection between Dr. Bacon’s research into the deformities of our natural habitants, the Bermuda toad and toadlet populations, and the spread of cancer on the island?
“These are some of the answers that CARF hopes to obtain.”
This year’s research has been aimed at seeing if the endemic species of killifish and the red-eared terrapins are victims of biological accumulation similar to the toads and if they are suffering the same ill-effects.
A 2006 field survey showed that the incidence of deformities of the Bermuda toads was high for the seventh year in a row.
The study of site data gives a better indication of what the findings revealed. The mean annual deformity rate for the ten sites from which adult toads have been examined the longest (between four and seven years) range between 3.3 and nine times higher than the highest that can be considered a normal background deformity.
Anyone wishing to know more about CARF and the work they do can e-mail carfcan<$>@hotmail.com or log on to its web site www.carfinfo.com.
