New research from the National Institutes of Health suggests that living in areas with relatively high levels of particulate air pollution may lead to higher rates of breast cancer.
Scientists at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Cancer Institute obtained information from more than 500,000 men and women in six states (California, Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania) and two metro areas (Atlanta and Pennsylvania). Detroit) making this study one of the largest investigations of cancer risks to date. Over the course of nearly 20 years, researchers identified 15,870 cases of breast cancer.
Historical measurements were made in the study PM2.5 concentration, which is pollution from sources such as industrial emissions and car exhaust whose particles have a diameter of 2.5 microns or smaller. Particles that size can travel deep into the lungs, where they can aggravate asthma and other respiratory diseases, and cause irregular heartbeats and even non-fatal heart attacks.
new study shows that higher PM2.5 concentrations are also associated with a higher risk for certain breast cancer tumors. Researchers believe that PM2.5 may cause endocrine disruption which may lead to cancer.
“We observed an 8% increase in the incidence of breast cancer in people living in areas with high PM2.5 exposure,” said Alexandra. “Although this is a relatively modest increase, these findings are important because air pollution is a ubiquitous risk that nearly Affects everyone.” White, Ph.D., lead author and head of the Environmental and Cancer Epidemiology Group at NIEHS. “These findings add to the growing body of literature that suggests air pollution is related to breast cancer.”
Experts suggest that future work should delve deeper into whether any regional differences in PM2.5 levels affect cancer risk.