10connects.com (Tampa, Fla.), February 5, 2009

LINK BETWEEN CHEMICAL EXPOSURE AND BREAST CANCER?

[Rachel's introduction: A review of 400 scientific studies shows that early-life exposure to common, every-day chemicals makes breast cancer more likely.]

By Heather VanNest

St. Petersburg, Florida -- Exposure to chemicals in everyday products may increase your breast cancer risk.

A new report suggests chemicals found in everything from pesticides to plastics to personal care products mimic estrogen or alter hormones.

Some controversial chemicals include phthalates and bisphenol A.

Click here to learn how to lower exposure to bisphenol A and phthalates.

Researchers looked at 400 epidemiological and experimental studies.

They say exposure to common chemicals found in some baby & water bottles, canned food liners may be linked to breast cancer later in life.

"The picture of breast cancer causation that emerges is complex," said Jeanne Rizzo, R.N., president of the Breast Cancer Fund, the organization that presented the articles.

"While there is no single smoking gun, the trends that emerge lead us to stop asking IF there is a link between breast cancer and synthetic chemicals, and to instead ask how to act to reduce our exposure, given the strong and compelling evidence we now have."

The Breast Cancer Fund is a non-profit, consumer advocacy group that works to identify and eliminate environmental causes of breast cancer.

The scientific review is published in the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health.

"Early-life exposures to endocrine disruptors like phthalates and BPA -- particularly during fetal development and childhood, but also continuing through first childbirth and breastfeeding -- are closely linked to later-life breast cancer risk," said Janet Gray, Ph.D., lead author of the scientific review article. "These compounds have yet to be classified as carcinogens, even though recent studies show an explicit health risk."

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