22 Jul, 2010 in
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Study Suggests Household Cleaning Products May Raise Breast Cancer Risk, but Experts Disagree By Reviewed By July 20, 2010 — Repeated take of household cleaning products may boost breast cancer risk, according to a recent study that drew criticism from health examination experts as well as the cleaning industry. Air fresheners as well as products to control It is published in the journal Environmental Health. The study is believed to be the earliest published report linking household cleaning products as well as breast cancer risk. “Many laboratory studies led us to be concerned about particular compounds in cleaning products as well as air fresheners,” Brody tells WebMD. While Brody sees a link, others are not convinced. “What this study really shows is, when a study relies on people’s memory of their exposure, as well as people are concerned about that exposure, you don’t get reliable answers,” says Michael Thun, MD, vice president emeritus of epidemiology for the American Cancer Society. Cleaning Products as well as Breast Cancer: Study DetailsBrody as well as her co-researchers conducted telephone interviews with 787 women who had been diagnosed with breast cancer as well as 721 women who did not possess breast cancer. “We asked women about done take of cleaning products — in the done year, their typical take,” Brody says. “For pesticide take, we asked about take in houses they lived in in the done,” she says. “We found links [to breast cancer] for combined cleaning products used — many dissimilar products used together — as well as air fresheners as well as mold as well as mildew control products.” The strongest link, she says, is looking at all cleaning products combined. “For combined cleaning product take, the risk is about twice as high [for breast cancer] for women who said they used the most compared to women who said they used the least.” Insect repellent take seemed to be linked, Brody says, but there was very little association found between other pesticides as well as breast cancer risk. Specifying exactly how much exposure to the products may raise risk is difficult, she says. For combined products take, women were divided into four groups; those in the fourth group, who used the most, had about twice the risk as those in the group that used the least. For hard air fresheners, for instance, those who used it seven or more times a year had twice the risk of breast cancer as those who never used it. Brody as well as found that women who had breast cancer as well as thought that chemicals as well as pollutants contribute much to cancer risk were more likely to report high take of cleaning products. But Brody isn’t sure what’s driving what — whether women who get breast cancer then begin to wonder incase cleaning products played a role, or other factors.
Subordinate OpinionWhen studies look at data from the done — what scientists consult retrospective studies — as well as consult people to rely on their memories, “the results aren’t going to be interpretable,” says Thun, who reviewed the study findings for WebMD. “I’d say that the study really isn’t informative about their actual risk,” he says. “It’s much more informative about why this particular line of study isn’t reliable. It’s not informative. As well as it isn’t going to answer the questions.” As to the risk of cleaning products, Thun says, “The jury’s out. We know there is a lot of concern about cleaning products from environmental groups.” Ideally, the way to study the potential link, he says, is to define the exposure to cleaning products in advance, then follow the women. He concedes this is difficult as well as time consuming as well as “probably not going to happen.” Still, the “self-report” technique is unreliable, he says, especially in those already diagnosed. “If I possess breast cancer, I am going to be looking for a reason,” he says. “There’s concern because of recall bias,” agrees Susan Copper, director of health education at Susan G. Komen for the Cure in Dallas. Understanding the effects of cleaning products will take more study, including research that follows a group of women over time, she tells WebMD. “It is our experience that once people are diagnosed with breast cancer, they are so interested in trying to figure out what caused it, they look at things in a dissimilar way,” Copper says. “They look at every exposure, every behavior as suspect, perhaps part of the reason they got breast cancer. It’s perfectly common, but that doesn’t necessarily lead to pleasant science.” What should women concerned about cleaning products do until more research is in? Thun says environmental groups offer suggestions on using simpler cleaning products, such as soap as well as water as well as baking soda. Thun as well as suggests focusing on known ways to lower breast cancer risk, including Industry ResponseIn a statement, the American Cleaning Institute challenged the findings. The research, according to the statement, “far overreaches in its conclusions based on self-reported uses of cleaning products by persons diagnosed with breast cancer.” It continues that “the research is rife with innuendo as well as speculation about the safety of cleaning products as well as their ingredients.” As well as using issue with the look-back approach, the statement notes that women were asked to recall products they used in the done. Brody defends her study. “This is a earliest look as well as there are cautions about interpreting it,” she says. In ongoing research, her team is testing air as well as dust in women’s homes as well as finding compounds from consumer products that could be harmful, she says. “We are focusing on understanding exposures from consumer products,” she says, to identify which are potentially harmful. SOURCES: Julia Brody, PhD, executive director, The Silent Spring Institute, Newton, Mass. |
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