Backyard chillies spark chemical emergency

hillies drying in a Melbourne resident's backyard led to a chemical emergency last night.

An ambulance was called to a home in Cranbourne, in Melbourne's south-east, after two men were reported to be coughing and having difficulty breathing.

At one stage, up to 10 people in the area were complaining of feeling dizzy and nauseated.

The area was doorknocked and it emerged someone was drying out strong chillies in their backyard and that was the source of the fumes.

It was a still evening and homes up to 150 metres away were affected by the strong chilli smell.

Source http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/04/20/3196697.htm?site=melbourne

Australians unaware of bowel cancer toll

Just one in four Australians is aware that bowel cancer is the nation's second deadliest cancer, according to a new survey.

The lack of awareness reflects alarmingly slow progress in population screening for the disease, Cancer Council Australia said on Wednesday.

A Galaxy survey found only one in four Australians were aware that bowel cancer is the nation's biggest cancer killer after lung cancer.
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Cancer Council Australia is calling on the federal government to fully fund a bowel screening program.

"If the national bowel cancer screening program were fully funded and promoted, we would expect public awareness about the impact of bowel cancer to be much higher," chair of Cancer Council Australia's bowel cancer screening committee, Anita Tang, said.

"Yet 14 years after the benefits of screening were confirmed, all we have is a partial program that no longer targets new participants and faces an uncertain future."

The survey found the majority of people thought breast cancer was the biggest killer when, in fact, it is the fourth most deadly, after lung, bowel and prostate cancers.

"Breast cancer advocates have done an excellent job raising breast cancer awareness," Ms Tang said.

"If the Australian government does not announce a plan for the program's implementation in the 2011/12 budget, people affected by bowel cancer will be entitled to ask why they were denied the benefits of population screening."

Source http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/australians-unaware-of-bowel-cancer-toll-20110406-1d33a.html