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Wednesday, October 15, 2003
Synthetic chemicals to increase breast cancer risk
THE Philippine Breast Cancer Network warned against synthetic chemicals in the environment that have the qualities of natural estrogen that might increase breast cancer risk.
Danny Meneses, PBCN president, said this foreign estrogen called "xenoestrogens" mimics the effect of natural estrogens in the body.
If synthetic chemicals in the environment have the qualities of natural estrogen, he added, these foreign estrogens might increase breast cancer risk by adding to the lifetime estrogen load through hormonal disruption affecting the way the body produces or metabolizes estrogen.
Thousands of synthetic endocrine disrupters have been identified and are in use worldwide, including certain pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, PCBs, dioxins and furans, cadmium, lead, mercury, non-biodegradable detergents and certain ingredients of plastics.
Studies in wildlife population and animal experiments have also shown that environmental contaminants have an effect when given at high doses.
Meneses cited many incidence of breast cancer occurring in areas where there are mining firms because of the presence of mercury and cyanide.
He believes one of the causes of breast cancer is the frequent exposure to x-rays because of its radiation.
He further cited that breast cancer cases are rapidly rising in the country, which is reported to have the highest incidence rate in Asia and is even included in the top 10 nations with highest incidence in the world.
Meneses, whose wife Rosa Francia-Meneses died of breast cancer in September 2000, said even if breast cancer incidence is increasing, the Department of Health does not have programs or even just a monitoring network.
With this, the PBCN supports the preventive approach of eradicating breast cancer and believes that enough evidence exists to raise serious concern and make this a priority for investigation and evidence-based regulatory action.
(October 15, 2003 issue)
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