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WASHINGTON: New study has shown that several common chemicals, including pesticides, ingredients in consumer products, food additives and contaminants in drinking water, may increase breast cancer risk by growing cells in the tissue breast to produce more hormones estrogen or progesterone.
The results of the study were published in the journal ‘Environmental Health Perspectives’.
Every day, people are exposed to a variety of synthetic chemicals through the products they use or the food they eat. For many of these chemicals, the health effects are unknown. However, this study revealed the unwanted effects of these chemicals and how they can increase the risk of breast cancer.
“The link between estrogen and progesterone and breast cancer is well established,” said co-author Ruthann Rudel, toxicologist and research director at the Silent Spring Institute.
“We therefore have to be extremely careful about the chemicals in products that increase the levels of these hormones in the body,” Rudel added.
For example, in 2002, when the Women’s Health Initiative study found that combined hormone replacement therapy was associated with an increased risk of breast cancer, women stopped taking the drugs and incidence rates declined.
“It’s no surprise that one of the most common therapies for treating breast cancer is a class of drugs called aromatase inhibitors which lower estrogen levels in the body, depriving breast cancer cells. hormones they need to thrive, ”said Rudel.
To identify these chemical risk factors, Rudel and Silent Spring scientist Bethsaida Cardona combed through data on more than 2,000 chemicals generated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ToxCast program ( EPA).
The goal of ToxCast is to improve the ability of scientists to predict whether a chemical will be harmful or not. The program uses automated chemical screening technologies to expose living cells to chemicals and then examine the various biological changes they cause.
In an article published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, Rudel and Cardona identified 296 chemicals that increase estradiol (a form of estrogen) or progesterone in cells in the lab.
71 chemicals have been found to increase the levels of both hormones. The chemicals included ingredients in personal care products such as hair dyes, chemical flame retardants in building materials and furnishings, and a number of pesticides.
Researchers don’t yet know how these chemicals cause cells to make more hormones. It could be that the chemicals act as aromatase activators, for example, which would lead to higher estrogen levels, Cardona said. “What we do know is that women are exposed to many chemicals on a daily basis from many sources and that these exposures add up.”
Silent Spring researchers hope this study will be a wake-up call to regulators and manufacturers about how they test chemicals for safety.
For example, current animal safety tests do not take into account changes in hormone levels in the animal’s mammary glands in response to chemical exposure. And, although high-throughput tests in cells have been used to identify chemicals that activate the estrogen receptor, mimicking estrogen, the tests have not been used to identify chemicals that increase estrogen synthesis. or progesterone.
“This study shows that a number of chemicals currently in use have the ability to manipulate hormones known to negatively affect breast cancer risk,” said Dr Sue Fenton, study associate editor and expert. developing mammary gland at the National Institute of Environmental. Health Sciences.
“Of particular concern is the number of chemicals that alter progesterone, the potential bad player in hormone replacement therapy. Chemicals that elevate progesterone levels in the breast should be minimized,” added Dr Fenton.
The researchers presented a number of recommendations in their study to improve chemical safety testing to help identify potential breast carcinogens before they are found in products, and suggest finding ways to reduce people’s exposure, especially during critical periods of development, such as puberty or pregnancy. when the breast undergoes significant changes.
The project is part of the Silent Spring Institute’s Safer Chemicals program, which is developing new, cost-effective methods of screening chemicals for their effects on the breast. The knowledge generated from this effort will help government agencies regulate chemicals more effectively and help companies develop safer products.
The results of the study were published in the journal ‘Environmental Health Perspectives’.
Every day, people are exposed to a variety of synthetic chemicals through the products they use or the food they eat. For many of these chemicals, the health effects are unknown. However, this study revealed the unwanted effects of these chemicals and how they can increase the risk of breast cancer.
“The link between estrogen and progesterone and breast cancer is well established,” said co-author Ruthann Rudel, toxicologist and research director at the Silent Spring Institute.
“We therefore have to be extremely careful about the chemicals in products that increase the levels of these hormones in the body,” Rudel added.
For example, in 2002, when the Women’s Health Initiative study found that combined hormone replacement therapy was associated with an increased risk of breast cancer, women stopped taking the drugs and incidence rates declined.
“It’s no surprise that one of the most common therapies for treating breast cancer is a class of drugs called aromatase inhibitors which lower estrogen levels in the body, depriving breast cancer cells. hormones they need to thrive, ”said Rudel.
To identify these chemical risk factors, Rudel and Silent Spring scientist Bethsaida Cardona combed through data on more than 2,000 chemicals generated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ToxCast program ( EPA).
The goal of ToxCast is to improve the ability of scientists to predict whether a chemical will be harmful or not. The program uses automated chemical screening technologies to expose living cells to chemicals and then examine the various biological changes they cause.
In an article published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, Rudel and Cardona identified 296 chemicals that increase estradiol (a form of estrogen) or progesterone in cells in the lab.
71 chemicals have been found to increase the levels of both hormones. The chemicals included ingredients in personal care products such as hair dyes, chemical flame retardants in building materials and furnishings, and a number of pesticides.
Researchers don’t yet know how these chemicals cause cells to make more hormones. It could be that the chemicals act as aromatase activators, for example, which would lead to higher estrogen levels, Cardona said. “What we do know is that women are exposed to many chemicals on a daily basis from many sources and that these exposures add up.”
Silent Spring researchers hope this study will be a wake-up call to regulators and manufacturers about how they test chemicals for safety.
For example, current animal safety tests do not take into account changes in hormone levels in the animal’s mammary glands in response to chemical exposure. And, although high-throughput tests in cells have been used to identify chemicals that activate the estrogen receptor, mimicking estrogen, the tests have not been used to identify chemicals that increase estrogen synthesis. or progesterone.
“This study shows that a number of chemicals currently in use have the ability to manipulate hormones known to negatively affect breast cancer risk,” said Dr Sue Fenton, study associate editor and expert. developing mammary gland at the National Institute of Environmental. Health Sciences.
“Of particular concern is the number of chemicals that alter progesterone, the potential bad player in hormone replacement therapy. Chemicals that elevate progesterone levels in the breast should be minimized,” added Dr Fenton.
The researchers presented a number of recommendations in their study to improve chemical safety testing to help identify potential breast carcinogens before they are found in products, and suggest finding ways to reduce people’s exposure, especially during critical periods of development, such as puberty or pregnancy. when the breast undergoes significant changes.
The project is part of the Silent Spring Institute’s Safer Chemicals program, which is developing new, cost-effective methods of screening chemicals for their effects on the breast. The knowledge generated from this effort will help government agencies regulate chemicals more effectively and help companies develop safer products.
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