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Early Exposure to Environmental Toxins Linked to Breast Cancer

By Emilie Schneider

Women and men diagnosed with breast cancer are on average older than 40, but harmful substances in the environment and in products used daily at a younger age can contribute to the development of the disease.

These substances are called endocrine disruptors, synthetic chemicals that when absorbed into the body either mimics or blocks hormones and disrupts the body’s normal functions. These disruptors enter the body through direct contact with pesticides, the ingestion of contaminated water, food or air and plastics, according to the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), an environmental action group.

Endocrine disruptors are important to understand because they affect the endocrine system, which influences our reproductive potential, cognitive functions, thyroid
and metabolism, digestion and hormonal balance. They not only have the potential to alter normal hormone levels, but they can trigger excessive action or completely block the body’s natural response, according to Women to Women, a program providing information about women’s healthcare. Endocrine disruptors can also alter feedback from the brain, pituitary, gonads and thyroid.

According to Women to Women, the most common endocrine disruptors are Bisphenol A, a synthetic substance used to make polycarbonated plastics found in food
and drink containers, phthalates, found in plastics, inks, pesticides, shampoos and cosmetics, parabens, found in cosmetics and pharmaceutical products, and pesticides and herbicides, which have had damaging effects to reproduction and development in the body.

Children are at a greater risk from exposure to endocrine disruptors which affect the development of the body’s vital organs and hormonal systems. Infants, children, and
developing fetuses are even more vulnerable.

Children are at risk of exposure from more than 85,000 synthetic chemical compounds and they are at a greater risk of exposure from 3,000 high-production volume chemicals found in foods, household products, air and water. They are more susceptible because of increased exposure to environmental toxins and there is more time for them to develop chronic diseases as a result of early exposures compared to adults, according to Environmental Health Perspectives, a peer-reviewed journal on the impact of the environment on people’s health.

Timing of exposure to endocrine disruptors holds great significance because the period between conception and adolescence, when cells and tissues are growing and developing most rapidly is very delicate. Experimental data show that even low-dose exposure could have devastating effects, according to Environmental Health Perspectives.

Evidence of the exposure to endocrine disruptors was seen in the 1950s and 1960s when pregnant women were prescribed diethylstilbestrol, a synthetic estrogen to prevent miscarriages. In addition to its failure to prevent miscarriages, it caused health problems in the women’s offspring. As the children matured, there was a high rate of vaginal cancers in teenage girls and many suffered birth defects of their reproductive organs, with investigations tracing the problems back to the use of the synthetic estrogen, according to the NRDC.

These endocrine disruptors in the environment also contribute to the onset of breast cancer. Breast cancer rates in the United States have increased by more than 40 percent between 1978 and 1998 and 10 years later, a woman’s lifetime risk of breast cancer is one in eight, according to State of Evidence 2008 (SOE), a comprehensive report on the environmental exposures linked to increased breast cancer risk, published by the Breast Cancer Fund.

Exposure to endocrine disruptors affects the early stages of development from the prenatal period through puberty and adolescence and until the first full-term pregnancy.

For example, exposure to a widely used but now banned pesticide DDT during childhood or early adolescence led to a fivefold increase in breast cancer before age 50. Statistics prove that factors in the environment have played a part in the increase of the disease. Following the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, breast cancer rates were highest among women younger than 20, according to SOE.

Not only are exposures to toxic chemicals in the environment contributing to a high rate of breast cancer, but also to the earlier arrival of puberty in girls. Recent studies
found that children produce less amounts of natural hormones than previously thought, leading to a more profound effect when an endocrine disruptor enters the body. Puberty is a delicate process that is susceptible to disruption and it is hitting poorer communities and communities of color the hardest, according to SOE.

The type of food in one’s diet can also be a risk factor in developing breast cancer. High dietary intake during adolescence of animal fats, not vegetable fats, may lead to
increased breast cancer incidence later in life. Regular physical activity during this period of development is associated with a decrease in later breast cancer risk, according to SOE.

Despite the threat of environmental toxins, a healthy lifestyle during adolescence and puberty is vital in the protection against breast cancer.

“Knowing this information, what changes will you make in your environment or your child’s environment to prevent breast cancer?”

Emilie Schneider is a native Long Islander, and recent graduate of Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism with a degree in news writing and editing. Her
interests include all aspects of journalism, women’s health issues and supporting NY sports teams.