Breast cancer cases soar in farm workers

[donsu]

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1160604611752&call_pageid=968332188492


Three times more likely to fall ill
Study examines agricultural link


Women who have worked on farms are almost three times more likely to develop breast cancer than those who have never worked in agriculture, a new study of cancer patients in the Windsor area suggests.

The paper, to be published today in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, says women with farming experience are 2.8 times more likely to develop the disease than non-farmers and that the agricultural link may linger long after a woman has gone on to other occupations.

-snip-

"We also found that if she went on to work in health care or in auto (manufacturing) her breast cancer risk continued, and in the case of the auto industry, it actually slightly increased."

-snip-

Brophy said a host of environmental contaminants, like diesel fumes, antibiotics and growth hormones are common in agricultural settings and could also be contributing to the higher cancer rates.
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anti perspirents, nail polish and hair dye ain't so wonderful either

[ananda]

1. I read that hair dye is ok

It seems that modern hair dyes are pretty benign.

[donsu]

2. maybe so - I have read that a product widely used by black women

on their hair is quite lethal. can't remember what it was.

[OzarkDem]

4. Parabens are bad

They contain properties that mimic estrogen - leading to risk.

Here is some more information

http://www.thinkbeforeyoupink.org/Pages/Resources.html

[senseandsensibility]

5. Do you have a link

or any suggestions where I could find this info? I would LOVE to find out that hair dye is benign. Not that I color my hair, of course! :silly: This is for a friend.

[Lexingtonian]

3. chemicals resembling DDT

lead to neurological problems and cancers after long exposures; they build up in fatty tissue and release from there at levels that are known to cause problems long after people stop doing the things that cause the exposure.

This is well known in South America and India, where DDT and pesticides and herbicides of roughly similar chemical and biological properties are used in bulk in agriculture.