One of the favorite myths of some breast cancer advocacy groups is that environmental chemicals contribute to the increased risk of breast cancer among women living in certain areas. One such area is Long Island. A new study by a group of researchers affiliated with the American Health Foundation in Valhalla, N.Y., has joined a number of other studies refuting such a link.

In the new study, published in the November issue of the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, the researchers measured the concentrations of seven pesticides and PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) in the fatty tissue of 232 women with breast cancer, and compared those levels to those in 323 hospitalized control patients who had never had breast cancer. Fatty tissue was chosen because the chemicals studied all persist in fat, to a greater degree than in other tissues. The chemicals studied, organochlorines, were all classified as possible carcinogens, based on animal testing.

After correction for age and body mass, fatty tissue levels of DDT and its breakdown products, total pesticide levels, chlordane (a termite killer) levels, as well as PCB levels, were found to be no different in breast cancer patients compared to controls. In addition, breast cancer risk in the study patients was found to be no higher in residents of Long Island than it was in New York City residents.

The authors concluded, “The present analysis for the Long Island population is consistent with numerous studies in other populations that have shown little association between [organochlorine compound] body burden and breast cancer risk.”

One of the study co-authors, Joshua E. Muskat, M.P.H., a senior scientist with the American Health Foundation, went further than that in a phone conversation with the American Council on Science and Health: “My review of many studies pertaining to trace levels of chemicals and cancer risk shows that there is no such relation. Advocacy groups, however, are not satisfied with negative studies, which is why these studies are repeated so often, with similar results.”

Susan M. Sieber, Ph.D., associate director for Special Projects at the National Cancer Institute, told the New York newspaper, Newsday, last week that, “I think this new study does further substantiate what most of the other studies have found. I think it’s pretty much a closed question.” Sieber was unavailable for further comment.

She also rendered some sage advice to America’s women: Pay more attention to factors medical scientists know influence cancer risk, such as balanced nutrition, avoiding smoking and appropriate exercise, which would lower their chances of getting cancer of any sort.

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