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London, November 24 (IBNS): Stirling University experts have uncovered new evidence of the link between air pollution and cancer as part of a new health study at work.
The team, from the Faculty of Health Sciences and Sport, analyzed the case of a woman who developed breast cancer after 20 years working as a border guard at the busiest border crossing in North America. North.
The woman was at least a member of five other border guards who developed breast cancer 30 months apart and at another neighboring border post a group of seven other cases was noted.
Dr. Michael Gilbertson, who worked with his colleague Dr. Jim Brophy, said their findings "infer a causal relationship" between breast cancer and very high exposures to traffic-related traffic pollution. and containing breast carcinogens. A link between night work and cancer has also been identified.
Dr. Gilbertson said, "This new research indicates the role of air pollution related to road traffic in the increasing incidence of breast cancer in the general population.
"With this new knowledge, industry and government can plan new designs for industrial and commercial facilities to reduce workplace exposures to traffic-related air pollution and schedule work schedules for minimize disruption of sleep patterns.
Messrs. Gilbertson and Brophy examined the case of the woman, employed by the Canada Border Services Agency for two decades on the Ambassador Bridge, which crosses the Detroit River between Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan.
The bridge – the busiest commercial border crossing in North America – carries 12,000 trucks and 15,000 cars a day. Air pollution is serious and border guards installed in traffic booths inhale many carcinogens, including those causing breast cancer.
The woman – one of at least five colleagues who developed breast cancer at 30 months apart – was diagnosed with her first episode of breast cancer at age 44 and the second at age 51 .
Notably, another group of seven cancer cases appeared at a second crossing point, the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, four miles from the bridge.
The number of cases among bridge personnel was 16 times higher than in the rest of the country – there is less than one probability per 1,000 that this was caused by chance. In addition, the clusters were characterized by cases of breast cancer that appeared early and before menopause with recurrences.
Scientists analyzed the circumstances of the case – heard by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal (WSIAT) – by applying the Bradford Hill criteria – a group of nine principles useful for establishing epidemiological evidence of a causal link between an alleged cause and an observed effect. The criteria take into account strength, coherence, specificity, temporality, biological gradient, plausibility, coherence, experience and analogy.
The case was aimed at determining whether the woman had a genetically inherited predisposition to developing breast cancer due to dysfunctional BRCA1 / 2 tumor suppressor genes. It was found that its BRCA1 / 2 tumor suppressors were not working – but that it was not related to its inherited genes. This condition is known as "BRCAness" and is sporadic, rather than inherited breast cancer.
The Stirling team investigated whether the malfunction was potentially caused by occupational exposures to pollution.
A review of previous research has confirmed that BRCA1 can be "silenced" by exposures to dioxin and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons – two substances found in exhaust gases.
In addition, further research has shown that BRCA2 degrades rapidly in the presence of aldehydes, also components of the exhaust gases.
"There is a lot more research to be done," said Dr. Gilbertson. "But we now have plausible mechanisms to infer how the BRCA1 / 2 tumor suppressors of this highly exposed border guard have become dysfunctional and have probably contributed to the persistent epidemic of sporadic, early, premenopausal breast cancer in its patients." colleagues.
"These breast cancer epidemics represent a new occupational disease that we tentatively call" BRCAness at work. "
Front-line workers also identified night work as a factor contributing to their high incidence of breast cancer.
Messrs. Gilbertson and Brophy examined whether night work could exacerbate exposure to breast carcinogens in traffic-related air pollution. They referred to a previous study involving rats, according to which those who were exposed to daylight continued to develop tumors 36% faster – and had 60% more tumors – than those subjected to a normal photoperiod.
Significantly, WSIAT rejected the woman's case.
Reflecting on the findings, Dr. Gilbertson continued, "Taking back the scientific evidence using a consensual medico-legal framework – Hill Bradford's criteria – allowed us to show the amount of evidence that WSIAT had ignored in rejecting this case. Workers' compensation.
He added: "This type of forensic research depends on the need to ask new questions based on the conclusions drawn from the existing evidence and the willingness to follow leads to unknown scientific fields.
"What was gratifying was that other scientists from different disciplines had already provided credible answers that could then be gathered as part of Hill's clues for this specific case, which could explain the clusters."
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