Findings have implications for how federal agencies assess pesticides for breast cancer risk.
Findings have implications for how federal agencies assess pesticides for breast cancer risk.
In an analysis of how regulators review pesticides for their potential to cause cancer, researchers at Silent Spring Institute identified more than two dozen registered pesticides that were linked with mammary gland tumors in animal studies. The new findings raise concerns about how the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approves pesticides for use and the role of certain pesticides in the development of breast cancer.
Several years ago, a resident on Cape Cod in Massachusetts contacted researchers at Silent Spring looking for information on an herbicide called triclopyr. Utility companies were looking to spray the chemical below power lines on the Cape to control vegetation.
“We know pesticides like DDT increase breast cancer risk, so we decided to look into it,” says co-author Ruthann Rudel, an environmental toxicologist and director of research at Silent Spring. “After examining pesticide registration documents from EPA, we found two separate studies in which rodents developed mammary gland tumors after being exposed to triclopyr, yet for some reason regulators dismissed the information in their decision not to treat it as a carcinogen.”
Read more at: Silent Spring Institute
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