Environmental pollution, cancer, and the relationship between them usually fall within the purview of natural science research; but if we look at them within the context of the affected communities, they often become complex social issues. Trends in current research therefore emphasize collaboration between the natural and social sciences in the hope of finding a way to analyse and solve these problems.

Through fieldwork in multiple ‘cancer villages’, we found that when people feel the incidence of cancer and mortality in their community is high compared to the past or to other communities, and they are unable to find an exact cause, they tend to associate the problem with environmental pollution, and engage in environmental resistance to seek a solution. Because cancer has a high mortality rate, people are very afraid of it, and this, combined with weak regulation of pollution by local government, means they feel environmental protest is justified. At the same time, the relationship between pollution and cancer is extremely complex, and determining a causal relationship between the two is often very difficult. In this situation, the demands residents make of local government and polluting enterprises to solve pollution and reduce the incidence of cancer are often mixed up with their other interests, such as improving living standards or securing other economic benefits. In this situation it is very important for researchers to clarify the real interests that lie behind residents’ environmental resistance, in order to avoid being swayed by the emotions of those involved and losing objectivity.