Chemicals in food packaging 'can cause breast cancer'

Roman Bystrianyk · medicine forum Guru Joined: 02 May 2005 Posts: 454

Rhiannon Edward, "Chemicals in food packaging 'can cause breast
cancer'", Scotsman, May 29, 2005,
Link: http://news.scotsman.com/health.cfm?id=588792005

SCIENTISTS have uncovered startling evidence that oestrogen-like
chemicals widely used in food packaging and dental materials may be
contributing to the development of breast cancer in women.

A study linked low levels of the chemicals to the development of
vulnerable and hormone-sensitive breast tissue in mice. Experts believe
the findings have alarming implications for human health.

In the study, the mammary glands of pubescent female mice grew
structurally in a way that made them more likely to develop breast
cancer. They also became unusually sensitised to oestrogen, which fuels
the vast majority of breast tumours in humans.

The research focused on bisphenol-A (BPA), a compound used in large
quantities in the manufacture of plastic food containers, dental
sealants and resins that line food tins.

An estimated six billion pounds of BPA is produced each year around the
world. Research has shown that the chemical leaches out of products and
may be absorbed at low concentrations into the body. Scientists working
with animals have already demonstrated that BPA is potentially damaging
to health. But the new study is the first to suggest even extremely
weak levels of exposure in the womb may be harmful.

A team of US researchers, led by Professor Ana Soto from Tufts
University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts, administered
tiny doses of BPA to groups of pregnant mice. The mice were treated
during the latter half of their pregnancies and for about four days
after giving birth. Their offspring were examined when they reached
puberty.

One of the most striking effects of BPA exposure was a large increase
in the number and density of terminal end buds, part of the mammary
gland's milk-producing structure. It is here that breast tumours
typically form.

In addition, the scientists observed a significant drop in the number
of cells in this region marked out for death. Programmed cell death, or
apoptosis, is a natural defence mechanism that weeds out damaged cells
that might turn cancerous.

The second major finding was that animals previously exposed to the
higher dose of BPA developed mammary glands that were much more
sensitive to oestrogen. Reporting their findings in the latest issue of
the Journal of Endocrinology, the researchers wrote: "These
correlations suggest that perinatal [shortly before or after birth]
exposure to BPA in particular, and to oestrogens in general, may
increase susceptibility to breast cancer."

About 40,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year in the
UK, and almost 13,000 die from the disease.

A leading reproductive biologist, Professor Frederick vom Saal from the
University of Missouri-Columbia in the United States, said it could be
assumed that every member of the population was "chronically exposed"
to BPA.

He added: "This is of tremendous concern, because this is clearly a
study that's relevant to human exposure levels to this chemical. What
she [Prof Soto] is showing is that the mammary gland is being altered
in its response to sex hormones."

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