As you may have suspected, there is a proven link between environmental factors and many types of cancer. A new study has confirmed that some workplaces make you more susceptible to breast cancer.
According to an article in Science Daily, the findings in the Environmental Health journal claim that some occupations do come with a higher cancer risk than others—namely environments that expose workers "to potential carcinogens and endocrine disrupters."
With breast cancer being the most frequently diagnosed of all cancers among North American women, it's crucial to identify possible contributing factors. The endocrine-disrupting chemicals and carcinogens in farming and manufacturing working environments were linked to breast cancer.
More than 1,000 women with breast cancer were coded according to professional exposures, with their "tumour pathology regarding endocrine receptor status" assessed.
Those particularly affected included women working in the following sectors: agriculture, bar/gambling, automotive plastics manufacturing, food canning and metal-working. In cases of premenopausal breast cancer, the highest risk came from those employed in the automotive plastics and food canning industries.
Those of a lower socioeconomic status were also at a higher risk, possibly because they were more likely to be employed in manufacturing and agricultural sectors.
"Our results highlight the importance of occupational studies in identifying and quantifying environmental risk factors and illustrates the value of taking detailed occupational histories of cancer patients. Mounting evidence suggests that we need to re-evaluate occupational exposure limits in regulatory protection," said the study's lead author, James T Brophy.
What do you make of these findings?
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