Beware of the sausage
Did you know that sausages are carcinogenic?
The World Health Organisation (WHO), through its cancer research arm, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, classifies processed meat, including many sausages, as a “Group 1” carcinogen.
In simple terms, there is strong evidence that consuming processed meat can increase the risk of certain cancers.
And yet, anyone can walk into a supermarket and buy sausages if they want to.
They have not been banned. There are no warning labels plastered across the packaging like you would see on cigarettes.
So should you eat them?
Probably, in moderation.
If you spent your life obsessing over every possible carcinogen identified by the WHO, you would probably never leave the house. That is not healthy either.
The important thing is balance. Look at the evidence properly. Understand the actual level of risk, rather than jump straight to the most extreme conclusion possible.
Is there a link between moulds in buildings and cancer?
This is where things start to become interesting.
I have seen the same image appear on my LinkedIn feed twice in the last two weeks.
The image is an infographic taken from the European Environment Agency (EEA) website. You can find the original image and article here.
In both cases, the entire left-hand column titled “exposure scenarios” had been cropped out.
For me, that information is quite important and shouldn’t be left out.
The infographic itself is presenting potential harms involving contaminated food and very specific occupational exposures.
In other words, people working in agriculture or food processing environments, where they may be handling large volumes of contaminated material and inhaling significant quantities of contaminated dust over long periods of time.
Those risks are already well understood.
One example is a form of hypersensitivity pneumonitis known as “Farmer’s Lung”. The clue is very much in the name.
There’s just one problem. The harms shown on that infographic have nothing to do with ordinary mould exposure in homes.
For anyone reading these posts online and suddenly worrying that the mould in their bathroom might give them liver cancer or kidney cancer, I will quote directly from the World Health Organisation (WHO):
“There is no epidemiological evidence for an association between exposure in damp buildings and cancer.”
That seems fairly clear to me.
Look at the evidence
People need to be careful about adopting the most extreme interpretation of something and then amplifying it online.
Misinformation is still misinformation, even when it is shared with good intentions.
As professionals, regardless of status or experience, we all have a responsibility to check where information has come from.
I would also be cautious about engaging with or reposting misleading content, because doing so can easily be interpreted as some form of endorsement.
If in doubt, seek advice from a properly qualified professional. Don’t believe everything you see online.
As I always say, if someone is making extraordinary claims, you would expect them to have extraordinary qualifications and experience. If they do not, well, make of that what you will.