Women's Health: 10 Ways to Avoid Cancer & Reproductive Hazards

From: http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc.mhtml?i=110&s=reprohazards
The Green Guide 110 | September/October 2005
Women's Health: 10 Ways to Avoid Reproductive Hazards by Francesca Lyman

High in Washington's Cascade Mountains, in a Bavarian-themed resort town, Rhona Baron and Kurt Carlson sang opera duets and in an a cappella group. As if according to script, the summer-stock actors got married. A baby was expected to dance forth at any moment. But babies didn't come. At age 36, Rhona had a doctor check her fertility. Instead she got hit with a dramatic diagnosis: early stage ovarian cancer. "I felt like I was a snow globe, shaken very hard," she recalls. While Rhona realized that she would probably never know why she contracted this complex disease, she couldn't help but wonder: Had she inherited a cancer gene? Or were environmental exposures a culprit? Could working as a young woman in the Oregon forests have exposed her to residues of toxic herbicides that might have led to her cancer?

More than 90 percent of the nearly 1.4 million Americans who will be diagnosed with invasive cancer this year have no known genetic predisposition to the disease; the rest of the cases are attributed to environmental factors: smoking, diet, sun exposure, radiation and man-made chemicals. This last factor, environmental chemicals and toxicants, accounts for 5 to 10 percent of cancer cases, epidemiologists estimate. Yet comparatively little research over the years has focused on life-long exposures to chemicals, according to Ruthann Rudel, M.S., a senior scientist with the research organization Silent Spring Institute, a non-profit research organization that studies links between the environment and women's health.

"We think the cancer establishment should be spending more money investigating the role of carcinogenic chemicals in everyday products and exposures, to build a knowledge base," says Rudel. She faults organizations such as the American Cancer Society for focusing too much attention on treatment, to the detriment of prevention. "They need to be paying more attention to the 80,000 chemicals in use today, most of which haven't been tested for their health effects."

Some researchers theorize that the development of synthetic chemicals, including petrochemicals and plastics, following World War II has contributed to the rise of cancers and reproductive diseases in the United States, which has the highest cancer rate of any country in the world. This rate has continued to rise over the last half-century. "In 1964, a woman's lifetime risk of breast cancer was 1 in 20. Today, the risk has risen to 1 in 7," says Nancy Evans of the Breast Cancer Fund, who recently analyzed National Cancer Institute figures. She argues that the known risk factors for breast cancer, such as family history, smoking, early age at first menstrual period, late age at menopause and late age of childbearing, explain only half of the cases.

The best-established environmental risk factor is ionizing radiation (from X-rays, sunlight and radioactivity). Several dozen man-made chemicals, however, have been linked to mammary tumors in animal studies. These include chlorinated solvents like methylene chloride (found, for example, in paint, cleaning solutions and adhesives); compounds found in gasoline and diesel exhaust such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs); organochlorines such as atrazine, a common pesticide; and dioxins, produced from chlorine bleaching of paper and incineration of PVC plastics. While an association between the now-banned organochlorine pesticide dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and breast cancer has not been clearly established, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has classified DDT as a probable human carcinogen, and a 2003 Belgian study found that women with breast cancer were five times as likely to have DDT in their blood than were healthy women. Using synthetic hormone drugs or oral contraceptives also has been associated with a higher risk of breast cancer.

Reproduction at Risk Almost 40 percent of the new cancers that are expected to emerge this year, as in past years, will be cancers that affect the reproductive organs in both sexes: some 533,980 new cases of cancer of the breast, uterus, cervix, ovary, vagina, prostate, testis and penis. At the same time, female reproductive disorders, such as infertility, pregnancy loss and endometriosis, are on the rise. A long list of chemicals may cause harm to reproductive organs and hormonal systems. The newest compounds found to have hormone-disrupting properties include phthalates, widely used in cosmetics and soft vinyl toys, flooring and medical tubing; and bisphenol-A (BPA), used in polycarbonate water bottles, resins that line food cans and dental sealants. Many of these chemicals interfere with the normal functioning of reproductive hormones, a factor that may help explain the growth of reproductive cancers and diseases. One surprising study found parabens, common preservatives widely used in cosmetics and deodorants, in tissue samples from breast-cancer patients, a finding still under investigation.

Burden of Proof A wide variety of published studies on laboratory animals and wildlife have connected environmental-chemicals exposures to cancer and adverse changes in female reproductive behavior. But similar studies on humans have been equivocal. A long-awaited study released in 2002 that sought to link the high rates of breast cancer on Long Island, New York, to organochlorine pesticides, for example, failed to find a link. But replicating results from animal experiments in human studies is difficult, notes Rudel. Such studies may fail to consider the timing of exposure--during pregnancy, fetal development or puberty--which can have an impact on the reproductive toxicity or cancer-causing ability of a chemical. Exposures to low levels of a cancer-causing substance over a lifetime can be difficult to track. And environmental chemicals may mix with genetic susceptibility to increase people's risk of cancer. Long-term epidemiological studies suggest, however, that something in the environment is affecting cancer rates. Studies show that women from industrialized countries have higher rates of breast cancer. Yet women from countries with low breast-cancer rates who then migrate to industrialized places acquire higher cancer rates within a generation or two.

"Since there's such a vast disparity in breast-cancer rates between the U.S. and Europe and Southeast Asia, by a magnitude of as much as fivefold--and women are much the same biologically--it can't be genetic," says Robert Hiatt, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California at San Francisco. A number of recent studies of animals and humans shed light on how chemicals widely found in consumer products may affect not only the diseases that develop in a woman's lifetime but subsequent generations as well.

*Exposures to high levels of two hormone-disrupting organochlorine pesticides, vinclozolin and methoxychlor, in the womb can cause infertility problems up to four generations later, according to a striking new study published in the June 3, 2005, issue of the journal Science by Michael Skinner, Ph.D., and his team of researchers at Washington State University. *Rats exposed in the womb to BPA developed an increased number of cell clusters where breast tumors typically form. The doses were within the range that humans are exposed to regularly in the environment, reported Ana Soto, M.D., and her colleagues at Tufts University School of Medicine, in Boston, in the journal Endocrinology, published online on May 26. BPA exposure also heightened the animals' sensitivity to estrogen, a trigger for the majority of breast cancers. "Our study suggests that if humans are exposed perinatally to BPA, the likelihood is it will make them more sensitive to estrogen and therefore more susceptible to breast cancer," Soto told The Green Guide. BPA was also linked to miscarriages in a recent study published online in the journal Human Reproduction on June 9.

*Exposure in the womb to phthalates is associated with incomplete masculinization of male babies, found a study published online in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives on May 27. According to Shanna Swan, Ph.D., professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, "My studies are showing that exposure to these plasticizers [phthalates] at extremely low levels can have perceptible biological effects in infant boys." If environmental toxins are proving to be potential risk factors for miscarriages, birth defects, reproductive disorders and cancers, as these studies seem to show, what can we adopt as prevention strategies? Prevention, after all, has begun to bring down heart disease, America's number-one killer. Some heart-healthy lifestyle strategies, such as high-fiber, low-fat diets and more exercise, can also make a difference in cancer and reproductive diseases. Rhona Baron, for one, credits specific lifestyle adjustments with her ovarian cancer going into remission. Within one year after chemotherapy she lost 25 pounds, going from a size 14 to a 6, by following a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, and incorporating a stiff exercise regimen coupled with time for meditation and relaxation. Having passed the crucial five-year mark, she was thrilled to be able, with her husband, to adopt a young Russian girl, Polina, who is now the joy of their lives. But not everyone is so lucky. Arguably, some people die of cancer even though they live a healthy lifestyle. A growing number of scientists are arguing for preventive strategies targeted not just at "lifestyle factors" but also at reducing exposures to environmental and household chemicals. In June, more than 100 scientists from around the world issued a signed statement, "The Prague Declaration on Endocrine Disruption," voicing their concerns and urging "precautionary action." As Julia Brody, director of Silent Spring Institute, says, "There's plenty of evidence we're doing something wrong in industrial society."

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Checklist: 10 Healthy Steps By making some lifestyle changes, you can reduce your risks, and your children's risks, of contracting cancer and reproductive ailments, while tackling obesity, diabetes and heart diseases too.

Never smoke tobacco; also avoid secondhand smoke. A May/June 2005 report by the California Air Resources Board concluded that younger, premenopausal women exposed to secondhand smoke have an increased risk of breast cancer.
2. Drink alcohol only occasionally, since it is linked to breast and other forms of cancer. Grape juice is an alternative that contains antioxidants and lowers LDL ("bad") cholesterol.
3. Maintain a healthy weight: A recent study found that women who did so before contracting breast cancer and after treatment had improved survival rates over those who didn't.
4. Avoid prolonged use of hormone-replacement therapy and oral contraceptives because these are associated with an increased risk of breast cancer.
5. Reduce exposure to toxic pesticides by eating organic food and avoiding synthetic weed- and insect-killers (see "Non-Toxic Pest Control <http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc.mhtml?i=109&amp;s=pest " in GG #109, "Top 10 Foods to Buy Organic <http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc.mhtml?i=93&amp;s=topten " in GG #93 and the Lawn-Care Product Report <http://www.thegreenguide.com/reports/product.mhtml?id=71 ).
6. Choose cosmetics and household products made without parabens, phthalates (steer clear of labels declaring "fragrance") and other unhealthy ingredients (see www.thegreenguide.com <http://www.thegreenguide.com/issue.mhtml?i=SSG ).
7. Eat a diet rich in fruits and vegetables. These contain antioxidants that reduce your cancer risk. Consuming fewer animal fats will reduce your exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs).
8. Avoid albacore tuna, sea bass, Atlantic halibut and other fish laden with mercury, a reproductive toxin.
9. Breast-feeding not only promotes healthy brain growth and protects your baby against allergies but also reduces your risks for ovarian and breast cancers, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
10. Contact your local municipal water supplier for recent test results on cancer-causing contaminants such as arsenic. For how to, see GG #101 <http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc.mhtml?i=101&amp;s=threesteps .