Exposure to chemicals may contribute to risk of breast cancer, report says

doi:10.1136/bmj.39545.605301.DB

BMJ 2008;336:797 (12 April), doi:10.1136/bmj.39545.605301.DB

News

Exposure to chemicals may contribute to risk of breast cancer, report says

Rory Watson

¹ Brussels

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Breast cancer is not simply a lifestyle and genetic diseasebut can be the result of environmental factors, noticeably exposureto chemicals, says a report published last week.

Commissioned by the Health and Environment Alliance, a Europeannetwork of non-governmental organisations, and the Chem Trust,the report coordinates the findings of several internationalresearch projects between 2002 and 2007 on chemicals that disruptthe endocrine system.

Commenting on the results, the author, Andreas Kortenkamp, thehead of the centre for toxicology at London University’sschool of pharmacy, said, "Good laboratory and epidemiologicalevidence exists suggesting that manmade chemicals that mimicoestrogen contribute to breast cancer.

"We will not be able to reduce the risk of breast cancer withoutaddressing preventable causes, particularly exposure to chemicals."

The report is published as the number of cases of breast canceramong women in almost all Western countries continues to rise.In the United . . . [Full text of this article]

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