ANHE
Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments
Biological, social, and behavioral factors that make humans, across the life span, more vulnerable to poor health outcomes from environmental stressors.
Environmental Chemical Pollutants — Do They Increase Risk For Breast Cancer?
Authors: Marian Condon BSN, MS, RN, and Denise Choiniere BSN, MS, RN
This article is now available for 0.9 CE credits. Please go to our Continuing Education community for this free CE offering
The goal of this program is to provide nurses with information about the impact of environmental chemical pollutants on breast cancer risk. After studying this information you will be able to —
- Identify environmental chemicals that have been linked to breast cancer.
- Describe the mechanisms by which early chemical exposures put women at risk for breast cancer later in life.
- Discuss the association between exposure to endocrine disrupting compounds and the development of breast cancer.
You may be very familiar with some of the basic facts about breast cancer incidence, such as the fact that one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer, and, next to skin cancer, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women globally. But what you may not be aware of is that while a great deal is known about some of the factors that put women at risk for breast cancer — life style, reproductive history, and certain genetic traits — the fact remains that less than half of breast cancer incidence in the U.S. can be attributed to these established risk factors?1
Currently, there is a great deal of support and momentum towards finding the cure for breast cancer. “Walks for the Cure” occur frequently, and many consumer products — some adorned in pink with pink ribbons — can be purchased in support of these efforts. Research is typically geared toward finding “the cure,” rather than toward understanding the complex web of factors that lead to breast cancer — as visually demonstrated in the “Complexity of Breast Cancer Causation” diagram. This diagram includes natural and man-made estrogens, a wide array of chemicals, life-style factors, genetic factors and radiation and depicts breast cancer causation as an interaction between these. Although it’s important and necessary to continue to search for the best and most effective therapies to treat breast cancer, consideration of the environmental chemical pollutants that are contributing to the breast cancer epidemic is imperative for the primary prevention of the disease.
Last updated 242 days ago by Katie Huffling
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