Some fairly common items have been associated with increased risks of <"https://www.yourlawyer.com/topics/overview/breast_cancer">breast cancer. The Independent wrote that air fresheners and some cleaning products could be the culprit, citing an emerging study.
According to the study, women who use a cleaning product combination experienced a two-fold increased risk of developing cancer versus other healthy women, with the strongest ties seen with air fresheners, mold and mildew removers, and insect repellents. The same connection was not seen with home and garden bug killers and surface and oven cleaners, said The Independent.
The researchers said that there were imperfections with the study since cancer sufferers were asked to recall if they had or had not used cleaning products, with the strongest link seen in participants who felt that chemicals were connected to their cancer, wrote The Independent. Despite the so-called “recall bias,†the team said their research was “biologically plausible,†noting that many air fresheners and cleansers contain so-called endocrine-disrupting chemicals that have been found to be associated with breast cancer and laboratory research, said The Independent.
Synthetic musks and phthalates were common components in both solid and spray fresheners and antimicrobials and phthalates and alkylphenolic surfactants were also found in a range of mold and mildew products, according to The Independent. For the study, 787 women with breast cancer and 721 healthy women were interviewed for the study conducted by researchers from Silent Spring Institute, Massachusetts, and Boston University. The women all reside in Massachusetts’ Cape Cod and were asked about their use of cleaning products and pesticides and were divided into four groups based on usage—from low to high, said The Independent. The study was published in the journal Environmental Health.
“Women who reported the highest combined cleaning product use had a doubled risk of breast cancer compared to those with the lowest reported use. Use of air fresheners and products for mould and mildew control were associated with increased risk,” wrote the team, quoted The Independent. According to the authors, the study is the first of its kind to look into the potential association between the cancer and cleansers, said The Independent.
We recently wrote that an announcement made by the President’s Cancer Panel states that the link between environmental carcinogens and cancers are much greater than ever realized, citing NBC New York.
The panel said, quoted NBC News, that the “the true burden of environmentally induced cancer has been grossly underestimated. With nearly 80,000 chemicals on the market in the United States—many of which are used by millions of Americans in their daily lives and are un-studied or under-studied and largely unregulated—exposure to potential environmental carcinogens is widespread.â€
We have long been writing about the unceasing rise in cancers across many demographics and the diseases’ apparent link to chemicals. Earlier last month we wrote that then-emerging research found occupational exposure to some specific chemicals and pollutants is associated to a whopping three-fold chance of developing post-menopausal cancer. And, in the other of just two recent examples—and, sadly, there are many, many more connections on which we have been documenting cancer and chemicals—is about a man raised at the Camp Lejeune Marine base who alleges his breast cancer resulted from contaminated base water, not the first time allegations were made regarding contaminated water and cancer diagnoses among residents who lived at or near that particular base.
