Scientists Identify Toxic Chemicals Women Should Avoid to Prevent Breast Cancer
Researchers have identified 17 types of toxic chemicals that can lead to mammary tumors in animals, suggesting that cancer-prevention efforts should include warning women about avoiding exposure to these substances.
A new peer-reviewed study says that many chemicals demonstrated to cause mammary cancer in rats are linked to breast cancer in women.
The study, published in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) journal Environmental Health Perspectives, was conducted by scientists at the Silent Spring Institute.
According to the researchers, their findings validate and expand on findings from other leading authorities, including the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which has expressed that “it is biologically plausible that agents for which there is sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in experimental animals also present a carcinogenic hazard to humans.”
Gasoline, Diesel, Flame Retardants, and Other Chemicals
The chemicals the researchers identified are found in gasoline, diesel and other vehicle exhaust, flame retardants, stain-resistant textiles, paint removers, and disinfection byproducts in drinking water.
Gasoline and chemicals formed by combustion (for example, benzene and butadiene) are among the largest sources of mammary carcinogens in the environment, according to the researchers. Exposure comes from vehicles, lawn equipment, tobacco smoke, and charred or burned food. Other mammary carcinogens include solvents, such as methylene chloride and other halogenated organic solvents used in spot removers, specialty cleaners, and industrial degreasers; pharmaceutical hormones such as hormone replacement therapy; certain flame retardants; a chemical used in stain-resistant textiles and nonstick coatings; and styrene, which is in tobacco smoke and is also used to make Styrofoam. Drinking water can contain mammary carcinogens, such as byproducts of disinfection or solvents that are common well water contaminants.
