A book on a preventable workplace cancer epidemic by Public Health Watch founder and executive director Jim Morris has won the 2025 Science-in-Society award from the National Association of Science Writers.
“The Cancer Factory,” published last year by Beacon Press, chronicled an outbreak of bladder cancer at the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company’s chemical plant in Niagara Falls, New York. In it, Morris showed how neither Goodyear nor its chemical suppliers acted expediently to control a known carcinogen used in the plant. At least 78 Goodyear workers developed bladder cancer — four times the number of cases that would have been expected among the general public.
Drawing on thousands of archival and legal documents and more than 100 interviews, Morris also documented America’s shameful record of protecting blue-collar workers from toxic hazards.
Science-in-Society contest judges described “The Cancer Factory” as a searing indictment of systemic injustice, with Morris drawing upon many decades of reporting to reveal a pattern of corporate deception and regulatory failure.
“Blending meticulous investigation with gripping storytelling, Morris exposes one of the most devastating (and one of the most underreported) occupational health crises in American history,” the judges said. “With safety regulations facing renewed threats, ‘The Cancer Factory’ is, tragically, more timely than ever.”
The book also was a finalist in the 2025 Investigative Reporters and Editors awards.
Publishers Weekly called “The Cancer Factory” a “devastating and thorough critique of corporate greed, deception, and lack of concern for worker health.” Booklist said the book “vividly reveals the dangers of cancer, birth defects, and other health complications in chemical factories while holding out hope for change for the better in spite of polarized politics and corporate influence.” And BookPage wrote, “Heartbreaking and infuriating, Morris’ storytelling jars the reader out of complacency. With luck, ‘The Cancer Factory’ can also be an instrument for change.”