The Killing Fields
Study links breast cancer to farm work
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Think that has nothing to do with
the environment? Guess again. A new study of women in Windsor, Ontario,
found that those who have worked on a farm are 2.8 times more likely to
develop breast cancer than those who haven't. The research was published
yesterday in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. "If you were
going to hypothesize about the No. 1 most likely cause of this elevated
risk, I think you'd have to look at the whole chemical exposure that exists
on farms," said lead author James Brophy, rather diplomatically. He
implicated diesel fumes, antibiotics, growth hormones, and, of course,
pesticides, many of which can block normal functioning of hormones like
estrogen. Interestingly, for women who worked in agriculture and then moved
on to the auto industry, the cancer likelihood was bumped from 2.8 to four
times. Plenty of other researchers are also studying the possibility that
breast cancer is tied to environmental pollution, as Francesca Lyman reports
in the latest issue of Ms. Magazine.

straight to the source: Toronto Star, Joseph Hall, 12 Oct 2006
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Artic
le_Type1&c=Article&cid=1160604611752&call_pageid=968332188492

straight to the source: The Globe and Mail, Martin Mittelstaedt, 12 Oct 2006
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061011.wxcancer12/BNSto
ry/specialScienceandHealth/home

straight to the source: CBC News, 12 Oct 2006
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2006/10/12/breastcancer-farm.html

straight to the source: Ms. Magazine, Francesca Lyman, Fall 2006 (article
unavailable online, alas)



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