In a review article published on March 23, 2022, in the journal Endocrinology, Ashlie Santaliz Casiano from the University of Illinois, Urbana, US, and co-authors discuss the relationship between exposure to two groups of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDC), polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and parabens, and breast cancer development with a focus on socially disadvantaged populations.
Reviewing epidemiological as well as in vivo and in vitro studies, the authors reported that African American women have a higher incidence rate for breast cancer and a higher risk of dying from it compared to other racial/ethnic groups. Several factors, including social-behavioral ones (e.g., discrimination, diet), clinical (e.g., access to healthcare), psychosocial (e.g., income), and environmental factors (e.g., water quality) were reported to contribute to these breast cancer disparities. Since all of these factors are driven by policies and laws, the authors refer to them as structural racism.
Concerning exposure to EDCs, such as PFAS and parabens, the authors summarized that “mounting evidence demonstrates that Black or African-American and Hispanic/Latinx women are disproportionately exposed to EDCs that have breast cancer-associated biological activity.” For instance, Black or African-American and Hispanic/Latinx women would use more personal care products often containing parabens. Urinary levels of specific parabens were found to be higher in Mexica-Americans and non-Hispanic Black or African-American women compared to non-Hispanic White women. While animal data and in vitro data would “justify concern about negative health effects of PFAS and paraben exposures” and recent epidemiological studies have linked exposure to these two substance groups with breast cancer development, Santaliz Casiano and co-authors emphasized that further research in human populations would be needed. They highlighted that these studies should reflect the diversity of the human populations and also include high-risk populations.
Not only in vivo studies but also in vitro models have used cell lines derived from Europeans when analyzing the effects of EDCs on breast cancer development. Therefore, also these models should become more diverse. The authors conclude that “structural racism perpetuates harms by disproportionately exposing marginalized communities to environmental hazards that ultimately impact their health.” Structural changes are necessary to reduce exposure and improve health outcomes of socially disadvantaged populations.
In a review article published on March 16, 2022, in the journal Endocrine, Metabolic & Immune Disorders – Drug Targets, Felipe Sanches Edaes and Cleide Barbieri de Souza from Lusíada University Center, Santos, Brazil, also touch upon carcinogenic chemicals by looking at bisphenol A (BPA; CAS 80-05-7) and its analogs bisphenol S (BPS; CAS 80-09-1) and bisphenol F (BPF; CAS 620-92-8). Analyzing articles published over the last 15 years, the authors reported: “BPA has a high carcinogenic potential, with known mechanisms to trigger breast, ovarian, prostate, cervical, and lung cancers, thus elucidating that its analogs are also xenoestrogens, that they can exert similar effects to BPA and, therefore, cannot be considered viable alternatives for its replacement.” The review article generally discusses the negative aspects of BPA, whether BPS and BPF can serve as replacements, as well as the problems associated with the high production of conventional plastics.
BPS and BPF are commonly used to replace BPA (FPF reported) but studies have reported negative health outcomes equivalently harmful as BPA (FPF reported, here, and here).
References
Santaliz Casiano, A. et al (2022). “Endocrine-disrupting chemicals and breast cancer: Disparities in exposure and importance of research inclusivity.” Endocrinology DOI: 10.1210/endocr/bqac034
Sanches Edaes, F. and Barbieri de Souza, F. (2022). “BPS and BPF are as carcinogenic as BPA and are not viable alternatives for its replacement.” Endocrine, Metabolic & Immune Disorders – Drug Targets. DOI: 10.2174/1871530322666220316141032
