"Hundreds of potential breast carcinogens taint everyday consumer products, food, drinking water, medicines, building materials and pesticides, scientists reported."
"The more scientists look for chemicals that can increase breast cancer risk, the more they find.
Hundreds of potential breast carcinogens lurk in consumer goods, food, drinking water, pesticides, drugs and building materials, scientists reported in a peer-reviewed study published Wednesday in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
Exposure to these chemicals is ubiquitous, the authors warn, yet biomonitoring efforts are failing to measure people’s exposures to most chemicals or assess risks from compound exposures.
Chemicals found in and derived from fossil fuels accounted for some of the largest production volumes and environmental releases of potential breast carcinogens, said lead author Jennifer Kay, a research scientist at the Silent Spring Institute, which works to reduce toxic threats to women’s health. She called widespread use of petrochemicals, particularly to make plastic, “a huge problem.”"
Liza Gross reports for Inside Climate News September 23, 2026.
