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2024
Environ Int
This large prospective study of over 170,000 women in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study examined whether air emissions of 19 known or suspected carcinogenic chemicals from industrial facilities (1987-1995) were associated with postmenopausal breast cancer risk through 2018. Women living within 1 km of high benzene emissions had more than double the breast cancer risk compared to unexposed women (HR=2.06, 95% CI: 1.34-3.17, p-trend=0.001), with the association weakening at greater distances and appearing strongest for invasive rather than ductal carcinoma in situ. Elevated risk was also observed for vinyl chloride exposure at 5 km distance (HR=1.20, 95% CI: 1.01-1.43, p-trend=0.04), with suggestive but unclear associations for asbestos, trichloroethylene, and styrene. These findings indicate that residential proximity to industrial facilities emitting benzene and other carcinogens may increase breast cancer risk, warranting further investigation particularly in diverse populations living near high concentrations of industrial sources.
2018
Scand J Work Environ Health
A European multicenter case-control study of 104 male breast cancer cases and 1,901 controls found that high cumulative lifetime exposure to trichloroethylene (>23.9 ppm-years) was associated with a 110% increased male breast cancer risk compared to non-exposure, with the association persisting when only exposures occurring 10 or more years before diagnosis were considered, indicating a true latency effect. The study also suggested possible roles for benzene and ethylene glycol in male breast cancer risk, though no clear dose-response relationships were observed for these chemicals. These findings are particularly important given that male breast cancer is rare, often diagnosed at later stages, and has worse prognosis than female breast cancer, and they add to evidence that occupational solvent exposures—particularly trichloroethylene used in metal degreasing, dry cleaning, and industrial cleaning—may be underrecognized risk factors for breast cancer in both men and women, warranting stricter workplace exposure limits and enhanced surveillance of workers in high-exposure industries.
2025
Epidemiol
A prospective study of 46,150 Sister Study participants followed for a median 13.4 years (4,155 breast cancer cases) used EPA Toxics Release Inventory data to quantify residential air emissions of 28 industrial compounds—many carcinogenic or endocrine-disrupting—during the 10 years before enrollment (2003-2006). Emissions within 3 km of residences showed non-significant associations with breast cancer for nickel compounds (HR = 1.3; 95% CI: 1.0-1.6 for highest vs. no exposure) and trichloroethylene (HR = 1.3; 95% CI: 1.0-1.6), while exposure continuum mapping identified 25 mixture profiles explaining 72% of emissions variance, with the joint-exposure response function suggesting higher breast cancer incidence among individuals with rare, high-emission profiles, though the overall mixture trend was not statistically significant (p = 0.09). These findings indicate that residential proximity to industrial air emissions of certain carcinogens—particularly nickel compounds and trichloroethylene—may be associated with increased breast cancer risk, though the lack of overall mixture association may reflect that individual compounds or specific emission sources are more important than cumulative exposure profiles, or that most participants experienced relatively low emissions with elevated risks concentrated among small subgroups with high exposure to specific pollutants.
2022
Int Arch Occup Environ Health
A nationwide retrospective cohort study of over 4.7 million Taiwanese workers found that occupational exposure to specific hazardous chemicals was associated with significantly elevated breast cancer risk among female workers, with asbestos showing the highest increase (107% increased incidence, 80% increased risk after adjusting for age and exposure duration). Other notable associations included 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane (74% increased incidence, 52% adjusted risk increase), trichloroethylene/tetrachloroethylene (47% increased incidence, 42% adjusted risk increase), benzene (40% increased incidence, 38% adjusted risk increase), and lead (27% increased incidence, 31% adjusted risk increase), with associations remaining robust even after accounting for 2- or 5-year latency periods. These findings from 3,248 breast cancer cases among exposed workers provide compelling evidence that occupational chemical exposures substantially increase breast cancer risk, highlighting the urgent need for enhanced workplace protections, regular breast cancer screening programs for exposed workers, substitution of safer alternatives where possible, and recognition of breast cancer as an occupational disease for workers with documented exposure to these carcinogens.