Exposure to ‘forever chemicals’ linked to higher chances of cancer in women: Study

A recent study funded by the United States government suggests that women exposed to several widely used chemicals appear to face a higher chance of ovarian and other types of cancers.

The research conducted by a team of academic researchers using the data collected by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found a link between women diagnosed with certain cancers and exposed to toxic PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals”.

About the study

According to the study published in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology,some women who suffered from “hormonally driven” cancers were exposed to certain PFAS.

“These PFAS chemicals appear to disrupt hormone function in women, which is one potential mechanism that increases odds of hormone-related cancers in women,” said Amber Cathey, a research faculty scientist at the University of Michigan and lead author of the study.

Whereas the researchers did not find similar associations between the chemical and cancer diagnoses in men.

The study is based on the data collected through a CDC biomonitoring programme between 2005 to 2018 and included more than 10,000 people.

The scientists then looked at the previous cancer diagnoses as well as the level of PFAS and phenols in blood and urine collected from the participants.

PFAS are used in thousands of household and industrial products including stain- and water-resistant fabrics, cleaning products, paints, and fire-fighting foams and are dubbed “forever chemicals” since they are present in the environment for a long time.

Additionally, given how widely these chemicals are used it is nearly impossible to avoid exposure to them. According to a previous report by the CDC, PFAS are found in the blood of 97 per cent of Americans.

“People should care about this because we know that there is widespread human exposure to these chemicals and we have documented data on that,” said Max Aung, assistant professor of environmental health at the USC Keck School of Medicine and senior author of the study, in a statement.

What else did they find?

The study also found links between women diagnosed with cancer and high exposures to phenols – an organic compound present in many household products, including mouthwash and food packaging.

The researchers also found that higher exposure to PFDE – a long-chained PFAS compound – particularly for women, had double the odds of a previous melanoma diagnosis.

Scientists also found racial differences as white women had greater chances of previous cancer diagnosis with higher PFAS exposure linked with ovarian and uterine cancers.

Meanwhile, non-white women were more likely to have previous cancer diagnosis with increased exposure to phenols and parabens which was linked with breast cancer.

The researchers also noted that while it does not prove that exposure to so-called “forever chemicals” led to these cancer diagnoses, it is a strong signal that they may be playing a role and should be studied further.

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