Kingston, Ont. Delegates to the world conference on breast cancer heard stories yesterday of whales with misshaped and swollen genitalia, oysters with cancerous organs and how the only way to win the war against breast cancer is to combat environmental pollution.

One of the most emotional pleas for attacking environmental hazards, which are sold to account for up to 80 per cent of breast cancer cases, came from Sandra Steingraber, a Boston biologist who overcame her own cancer, which she said was caused by polluted drinking water in her Illinois home town.

Every thing form power lines to X-ray machines to chemicals in food, cleaning solvents, pesticides and herbicides contribute to the breakdown of healthy cells, which result in mutating and lead to cancer; told Steingraber, author of the new book Living Downstream, which ties ecological hazards to increasing rates of many cancers. Governments that allow companies to continue to use toxic chemicals and make hazardous products are "committing premeditated random murder," Steingraber told in a luncheon speech before about 600 delegates at Queen's University.

Steingraber and other speakers said only 5 to 7 per cent of breast cancer Is the result of genetics, meaning outside forces are causing the epidemic that annually kills one million women worldwide. Industry, however, pegs its contribution to the cancer problem at a much lower rate, less than 10 per cent of all cancers.

In fact, one of the most controversial claims that electromagnetic fields contribute to childhood cancer - was debunked In a report in this month's New England Journal of Medicine, in the study, backed by the National Cancer Institute, 638 American children with leukemia and 620 children in a control group were assessed along with the magnetic-field levels (produced by everything from hair dryers to plug-in alarm clocks) In their homes.

"The economy is dependent on chemical companies' whose products Increase cancer risks. Biologist Sandra Steingraber. But researchers attending the conference In this cast-em Ontario city said other reports confirm the dangers. These types of studies, they said, aren't taken as seriously because many scientists involved in large-scale projects are funded by businesses In the lucrative chemical and mining industries.

French researcher Annie Sasco also blamed traditional medicine for contributing to cancers by overusing radiation methods such as mammography. Traditional medicine disputes this view, saying it's unfounded and mammography (special breast X-rays) is the best tool for catching cancers early and saving lives.

Sasco also presented figures showing rates of breast cancer are highest In areas where lakes are most polluted, where there's more pollution from military fallout and where mammography is more commonly practiced.

Debra Lee Davis of the World Resources Institute in Washington detailed the deformities among animals in the most polluted areas of the world, including Florida and the St. Lawrence waters.

She urged government to more heavily tax businesses that make potentially dangerous products than companies making environmentally friendly products. As it is, so-called green cleaners and other products are much more expensive than standard items. Steingraber also urged consumers to use chemical-free green products, stick with organic foods, drink purified water and check ingredients on labels. Under right-to-know legislation in various parts of Canada and the United States, consumers can also find out what toxic emissions are being put into their community, such as from smokestacks, and what's being dumped into rivers and landfills.

Both sides of the environmental debate will be taken into account when conference organizers assemble a global action plan, expected to be released in the coming months, to eradicate breast cancer.