Beijing, February 28th (Tech Daily) - Researchers from the UK have conducted a retrospective analysis of 27 studies, revealing concerning connections between air pollution and cancer. The analysis report indicates that air pollution is associated with cancers such as breast and prostate cancer. Prolonged exposure to air pollution increases the risk of breast cancer by 45% and the risk of prostate cancer by 20% to 28%. The findings were published in the latest issue of the Cancer Research journal.
Additionally, the report points out that individuals exposed to air pollution face an 80% higher risk of dying from breast cancer compared to those unexposed, and a 22% higher risk of dying from various types of cancer. Professor Kofa Mokbel, a renowned breast surgeon from the UK and lead author of the latest study, stated that air pollution, like smoking, obesity, and alcohol, is a significant carcinogenic risk factor.
The research team selected 27 studies from hundreds of peer-reviewed publications, which investigated the impact of air pollution on human diseases, many involving millions of patients and decades of follow-up.
The report highlights particular concern about PM2.5 (fine particulate matter), originating from exhaust fumes, manufacturing, cooking, smoking, and e-cigarettes. These tiny pollutants enter the lungs, then the bloodstream, circulating throughout the body. PM2.5 can cause inflammation and oxidative stress, both known carcinogenic factors. Moreover, PM2.5 can disrupt glands responsible for hormone production throughout the body, posing particular risks for breast and prostate cancer, both potentially hormone-driven cancers.
Researchers emphasize that other cancers associated with exposure to PM2.5 include gastric, lung, bladder, colorectal, ovarian, and uterine cancers. E-cigarettes are also unsafe, with increasing evidence suggesting they directly deliver PM2.5 to the lungs.
