Study Ties Pollutants to Breast Cancer

[OzarkDem]

The Breast Cancer Fund has released a new report on this. Of course, this also applies to other cancers, particularly hormone dependent ones. I'm not sure if this is a metanalysis or a summary of research findings. BTW, Numerous reports and studies have been published lately showing drastic increases in breast cancer incidence in China and India. China has seen cases quadruple in the last several years.

http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_3435571?source=rss

"You just can't blame it on lifestyle factors, like when you have children or if you have children," said Nancy Evans, health science consultant for the Breast Cancer Fund and the report's principal author.

"Half the cases are not explained by genetics or the so-called known risk factors. There's something else going on."

The report, by the San Francisco-based groups Breast Cancer Fund and Breast Cancer Action, analyzed the findings of more than 350 experimental, epidemiologic and ecological studies assessing breast cancer.

...

For instance, the report cited a study from Tufts University that found exposing pregnant mice to extremely low levels of bisphenol-A altered the development of the mammary gland in their offspring at puberty.

And that alteration makes the gland more susceptible to breast cancer, Evans said.

Bisphenol-A, originally developed as a synthetic hormone in the 1930s, today is used as an additive to make plastic shatterproof and to extend the shelf life of canned goods. Nearly 6 billion pounds are produced annually.

and don't forget radiation from mammography...

No one knows, but new research from the National Academy of Sciences suggests there is no safe radiation dose: The lowest possible dose still increases cancer risk. Yet the American Cancer Society still recommends women over age 40 have a mammogram, despite evidence such procedures are not effective until women are 50 years old.

"We have to have a replacement for mammography. It's so aggressively promoted, especially for young women," Evans said.

But does the chance of early detection outweigh the risks?

"I'm not saying they should or shouldn't," Evans said. "They need to be aware of the risk. An additional 10 years of radiation is not insignificant."

[Richard D]

1. I've been telling people for years . . .

. . . not to drink water from plastic bottles. It's so bad for so many reasons.

[schmuls]

2. why?

[Richard D]

4. Various chemicals

used to make the plastic flexible can leach into the water. These are xenoestrogens, that is estrogen like chemicals. The one mentioned above is used in hard plastic bottles like Nalgene and can also leach into the water when the plastic gets older. It's especially bad if the bottles are left in a hot car and then the water is drunk. There's a lot of info about this.

Also from an ecological viewpoint, plastic water bottles are one of the largest fillers of garbage dumps, right behind baby diapers.

[im10ashus]

7. A good point.

But it's SO hard to find alternatives if you are on the go.

[Richard D]

8. It's not that hard

I got a stainless steel water bottle and I fill it every morning with purified water. Works really well.

[raccoon]

3. Thanks for posting this. nt

[im10ashus]

5. I am going to K&R this!

I know too many women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer and/or had tumors removed.

There has to be something else going on, like Nancy Evans says.

[pitohui]

6. new research?

i studied physics a l-o-n-g time ago, there was never any reason to believe that there is any safe dosage of radiation, even background radiation causes a few cancers every year, which is why you have a slightly higher risk of cancer in denver than in a sea level city

it is sad, i know a bright intelligent high-earning woman who started getting mammograms way too young, young breasts being most susceptible to even low doses of radiation, she got breast cancer at 34, recently, on another site, i was told of a young woman who got mammograms in her twenties and, yep, she ended up with breast cancer also and not yet 30

it should never be promoted or sold to young women, unless there is some v. exceptional reason, such as a lump found