Sir - With breast cancer rates rising fast (one in nine women in 2001, up from one in 12 women in 1996, and likely to be even higher now) we all know of someone who has been afflicted with this disease.

We hear much about the so-called 'lifestyle choices' that increase our risk, such as smoking, excess alcohol, obesity, and late-onset menopause brought about by HRT, but these are not major contributing factors for most women who suffer from breast cancer. Age is, however, and it has to be asked why.

Many studies have shown that since the 1940s, the rise in the production of synthetic chemicals designed not to break down in the environment, has been mirrored generally by the rise in cancers.

Many are toxic, carcinogenic, or hormone disrupting, and bio-accumulate in the fatty tissues of our bodies, including the breast (more than 400 have been found). Shamefully, few have ever been tested for potential adverse effects on health by the chemical industry before being released into the environment in the many items we buy for the home.

In this Rachel Carson Centenary Year, why are we still having to deal with this chemical legacy?

We need to have the right to know the chemical ingredients of everything bought for business, household or personal use, to know what risks there are to our health, and to know that safer substitutes will be phased in quickly according to a specified timetable.

Join the No More Breast Cancer Campaign at www.nomorebreastcancer.org.uk for information on the primary prevention of breast cancer by the strengthening of the EU REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of CHemicals) legislation.

Joy Irving, Cirencester