Women and Chemicals

Women’s health
under threat
Typical diseases for women can be linked to chemical exposure. Many studies show
associations between single substances and the development of breast cancer, infertility,
obesity and many more diseases. Two diseases shall serve as examples to illustrate
the kind of role chemicals can play in their outbreak. Breast cancer is a typical women’s
disease. Infertility of women involves different biological factors than male infertility.
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Although many studies are available, much more research is needed.
Too many chemicals are not yet tested for their impact on women’s health.
Additionally, very little comprehensive overview literature is available specifically
on women’s health and chemicals.
Breast cancer
The first disease one would relate to the issue of chemicals and
women is probably breast cancer. The incidence rates of breast
cancer have increased dramatically in recent years. These trends
cannot be fully explained by the improvement of diagnosis,
changes in established risk factors (age at menarche or menopause,
genetic susceptibility, age of having babies) or life style
causes. Epidemiological studies show evidence that chemicals
like PCDD/F, PCBs, organic solvents, DDT/DDE, BPA, PAHs, phenols,
alkylphenols, phthalates, parabens, styrene, metals, phytoestrogens,
chemicals in first or second-hand smoke, and heavy
metals like cadmium are linked to breast cancer. 1
Most human studies have focused on adult exposure. However,
some retrospective studies provide hints that early exposure
to hormone disruptors plays a role in adult disease. For example,
although some earlier studies showed no link between
DDT and breast cancer, narrowing the suspected exposure to
girls younger than 14 revealed a fivefold increase in breast cancer
risk after age 50. 2
A broad overview on the incidence of breast cancer is also
given by Meriel Watts researching the link between pesticides
and breast cancer. 3 The reported incidence rate for breast cancer
varies enormously between countries. Reported rates are highest
in the USA, Europe, New Zealand, Canada and Australia, and
lowest in Asia and Africa. Mortality of breast cancer shadows the
incidence. 4 This regional variation in breast cancer incidence
could be a result only of the substantial underreporting in many
developing countries. Many poor rural women simply cannot afford
to go to the doctor or have access to basic health care and
hence their breast cancer may never be recorded. Additionally,
not all countries have adequate breast cancer registries even for
those cases that are seen by a doctor. Hence the breast cancer
rate even in these countries may in fact be higher than the currently
available statistics reveal. 5
Conventionally accepted risk factors only account for 30
to 50 per cent of all breast cancers. 6 This leaves 50 to 70 per
cent of cases with no known cause. This is where the environment
and the exposure to toxic chemicals get in the focus as
causes. Andreas Kortenkamp, for example, sees evidence
emerging that environmental influences, including chemical
exposure, play a vital role. 7 Studies among Scandinavian twins
on breast cancer suggest this. They have found that heritability
accounted for 27 per cent, environmental factors that were
shared by both twins explained 6 per cent, and environmental
factors not common to the pair contributed 67 per cent. 9 As it
seems that the most important contributors to the development
of breast cancer are non-genetic or environmental,
much more attention has to be paid to those factors. As
chemical exposure is one prominent non-genetic as well as
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