Database Highlights Environmental Risks
List includes pollutants, foods, solvents linked to breast cancer

(HealthDay News) -- Women who want avoid the hundreds of compounds that have been linked to breast cancer now have technology on their side.

A free online database has been created by researchers who analyzed almost a thousand breast cancer studies that linked the disease with environmental exposure to more than 200 chemical compounds.

Described as "the most comprehensive of its kind," the database highlights the concern about such environmental carcinogens as pollutants, food contaminants and organic solvents. Eventually, the database also will include information on other factors -- including diet, physical activity, weight, smoking, and drinking -- that also have been shown to affect breast cancer risk, its creators say.

"This compilation is a great effort, because it summarizes all the evidence and gives us hints of what to look for next," researcher Leslie Bernstein, vice provost for medical affairs with the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, told HealthDay .

The database is accessible at www.silentspring.org/sciencereview or www.komen.org/environment.

The International Agency of Research on Cancer has classified 90 or so compounds as human carcinogens, according to the American Cancer Society. But Bernstein's team said that most of the chemicals to which people are exposed have not been tested for carcinogenic risk. About 80,000 chemicals are registered in the United States for commercial use, according to the researchers.

For more than two years, Bernstein worked with colleagues from Harvard University , the Roswell Park Cancer Institute and the Silent Spring Institute to gather and sort through almost 1,000 breast cancer studies that focused on carcinogens. Of primary interest were 460 human breast cancer studies, of which more than 150 looked at environmental carcinogens among breast cancer patients. Most of those studies were conducted in the 1990s. The remaining studies involved animal or laboratory research.

Although the database project did not set guidelines for exposure to carcinogens, the researchers advised people to try and limit their exposure to PCB-contaminated fish, gasoline-generated air pollution, chlorinated tap water, non-stick coated cookware and detergents containing fluorescent whiteners.

The American Cancer Society says that despite all these studies, experts don't yet know exactly what causes breast cancer. But in addition to exposure to the chemical compounds listed in the database, experts have determined that certain factors affect the likelihood of someone getting the disease. Generally, these risk factors vary by cancer type.

Some risk factors -- such as smoking, drinking and diet -- are linked to things a person does. Others -- such as age, race and family history -- can't be changed. Though there's no sure way to prevent breast cancer, a woman might reduce her risk somewhat by changing risk factors that can be changed.

By avoiding alcohol, exercising regularly and maintaining a healthy body weight, women decrease their risk of getting breast cancer. Breast-feeding for several months also seems to reduce breast cancer risk.

On the Web

To learn more about environmental carcinogens, visit the American Cancer Society.

SOURCES: HealthDay News ; Janet Gray, Ph.D., professor of psychology and director of science, technology and society, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N.Y.; Leslie Bernstein, Ph.D., professor of preventive medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles; May 14, 2007, online supplement, Cancer ; American Cancer Society (www.cancer.org)
Author: Anne Thompson
Publication Date: May 31, 2008
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