A report on environmental links to breast cancer released this fall concludes that exposure to synthetic chemicals and radiation has contributed more than previously thought to the rising incidence of breast cancer. This supports MEC efforts to ban some chemicals and provide more information to the public on others.

The report-State of the Evidence 2004: What Is the Connection Between the Environment and Breast Cancer?-was jointly released by the Breast Cancer Fund, a nonprofit environmental health organization, and Breast Cancer Action, a nonprofit national education and advocacy organization.

According to the report, less than one in 10 cases of breast cancer occurs in women born with a genetic predisposition for the disease. As many as 50 percent of breast cancer cases remain unexplained by personal characteristics and other traditionally-accepted risk factors; epidemiologists and other scientists increasingly believe many cases are linked to environmental factors.

This third edition of the report amasses new evidence from 21 research studies published since February 2003, adding to existing evidence linking toxins in the environment to breast cancer. In 2004, 40,000 women in the United States will die from breast cancer.
"This new report offers the clearest evidence yet that the rise in breast cancer incidence is linked to exposure to radiation and toxic chemicals," said Nancy Evans, a health science consultant for the Breast Cancer Fund and editor of the report. "Medical x-rays, pesticides, household cleaning products, personal care products and some pharmaceuticals-these are just a few of the multiple and chronic exposures contributing to this epidemic."

In the past 50 years, a woman's lifetime risk of breast cancer more than tripled in the U.S., to one in seven today. This trend parallels a staggering increase of chemicals in the environment.
The new report recommends:

• Phase out chemicals known to cause cancer or genetic harm and test all others to determine the effects on human health and the environment; and
  
  
• Hold corporations accountable for hazardous practices and offer incentives for clean, green practices.