Section 6.0: Introduction
Module 6: 3 States Implementing Cancer Risk Reduction Strategies
Objective: Gain inspiration from how other states have integrated new goals strategies to support environmental and occupational cancer risk reduction.
This toolkit provides a framework for integrating environmental and occupational cancer risk reduction goals and strategies into comprehensive cancer control planning. The Modules provide a framework for state chronic disease programs and their cancer coalitions to:
- Develop new and support existing partnerships and collaborations among the array of stakeholders with a role to play in reducing environmental and occupational carcinogens.
- Use environmental health tracking data and experts – including community leaders – to identify environmental and occupational cancer risk reduction needs.
- Engage partners about the scientific evidence warranting environmental and occupational cancer risk reduction efforts.
- Develop a set of strategic, evidence-informed interventions that demonstrate effectiveness in reducing exposure.
- Ensure goals and strategies address health equity and environmental justice.
So how are states implementing this framework? This final Module provides 3 case studies of states that have integrated new goals and strategies to support environmental and occupational cancer risk reduction. While many states are at the beginning of this journey, these case studies highlight how dedicated leadership and unique partnerships can overcome capacity limitations to address the burden of environmental causes of cancer.
As of July 2026, several additional states have emerged as model examples for successfully incorporating comprehensive environmental and occupational risk reduction goals into their cancer plans. These plans also serve as blueprints for how data, advocacy, and multi-sector partnerships can prioritize environmental and occupational exposure reduction. Additional state plans include: Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia.
If your cancer coalition has successfully incorporated environmental and occupational cancer risk goals into its comprehensive cancer control plan, or if you are in the process of developing these priorities, please contact us as CENSWPA is ready to offer support to states in their effort to build out environmental and occupational risk reduction goals and strategies. We also want to ensure a full list of state models are available; please contact us to keep our running list up to date.
Key Takeaways
- Champions for environmental cancer risk reduction are important partner assets to sustain leadership for the development and implementation of goals and strategies.
- Leveraging partners, both existing and new, to take on a new cancer risk reduction priority is essential to counter capacity limitations experienced by state cancer programs across the country.
- Expanding the work of cancer coalitions to include environmental and occupational interventions takes time. Working towards a comprehensive and fully realized environmental cancer risk reduction goal can begin with continued learning and be refined overtime as partnerships are cultivated and deepened.