Policy and research recommendations emerging from the scientific evidence connecting environmental factors and breast cancer.

Abstract

A substantial body of evidence links environmental exposures to increases in breast cancer incidence over the past decades. State and federal legislative initiatives that could help prevent breast cancer include: federal standards to achieve consistency in radiation-emitting medical and dental equipment; improved state quality assurance standards for radiation-emitting equipment; federal and state exposure limits for electromagnetic radiation; an overhaul of the federal Toxic Substances Control Act to reduce unsafe chemical exposures; strengthened premarket health and safety testing and regulation of pesticides; a federal ban on the manufacture, distribution and sale of consumer products containing bisphenol A and phthalates; and strengthened oversight and regulation of the cosmetics industry. We recommend public and private investment in research on low dose exposures, mixtures, and the timing of chemical exposures, as well as the development of health tracking and biomonitoring programs designed to link data from pollution surveillance systems with disease registries.

• Authors: Janet Nudelman, Brynn Taylor, Nancy Evans, Jeanne Rizzo, Janet Gray, Connie Engel, Marisa Walker
• Journal: International journal of occupational and environmental health (Int J Occup Environ Health) 2009 Jan-Mar Vol. 15 Issue 1 Pg. 79-101 ISSN: 1077-3525 [Print] England
• PMID: 19267127 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)

Topics

• Biomedical Research
• Breast Neoplasms (etiology, prevention & control)
• Environmental Exposure (adverse effects, prevention & control)
• Female
• Health Policy
• Humans