Certain Jobs Up the Risk of Breast Cancer, New Study Says

The journal Environmental Health recently witnessed the publication of a new study stating that, when compared to poorly developed regions of the world, heavily industrialized countries experience the highest rates of breast cancer.

Researchers believe that this comes as a result of the fact that in these developed countries women are granted access to various jobs that allow them to be exposed to various chemical compounds that up the risks of developing said medical condition.

The researchers who looked into this issue have focused on compounds that are already classified as endocrine disrupters and carcinogens.

With the help of interviews and surveys, they found that the women employed in the fields of agriculture and manufacturing had a higher risk of developing breast cancer at one point in their lives, Eurek! Alert reports.

Interestingly enough, most of the cases of premenopausal breast cancer were reported by women working in the automotive plastics and the food canning industries.

Because of this, lead author James T. Brophy has made a case of how further efforts need be made in terms of improving on the health regulations concerning workplaces.

“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,” James T. Brophy commented with respect to these findings.

“Mounting evidence suggests that we need to re-evaluate occupational exposure limits in regulatory protection,” this specialist went on to add.

As was to be expected, the women whose socioeconomic status was rather low ran greater risks of developing breast cancer. 

This is most likely because they are the ones who more often than not are forced to seek jobs in agriculture, bar/gambling, automotive plastics manufacturing, food canning and metalworking.

This particular study was carried out in Southern Ontario, Canada, and involved 1006 women who were already suffering with breast cancer, and 1147 randomly selected controls.