A new study suggests that air pollution increases the chances of developing breast cancer by 45 percent and exacerbates death from the disease by 80 percent.
The results mean pollution is as lethal as known risk factors such as alcohol, obesity and smoking.
The study, set to be published in Anticancer Research on Friday, found that prolonged exposure to air pollution aggravates the risk of developing breast cancer by 45 percent and prostate cancer by 20 to 28 percent.
The research also suggested that individuals subject to air pollution 80 percent higher breast cancer mortality, and 22 percent higher for other forms of cancer when compared to study groups not exposed to pollution.
The team analyzed 27 existing studies from a database of peer-reviewed publications examining the impact of pollution on human health, encompassing millions of patients monitored over decades.
Professor Kefah Mokbel, a prominent breast surgeon in the UK who conducted the research, warned the main danger was from particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) and minute pollution particles, finer than human hair, from sources like vehicle emissions, industrial activities, wood-burning stoves, cooking, smoking and vaping. These pollutants infiltrate the respiratory system, entering the bloodstream and spreading throughout the body.
"PM2.5 won't cause a cough, but there's increasing evidence that when it slips into the body, it can cause silent DNA damage that can lead to cancer," Professor Mokbel said. "It can cause inflammation and oxidative stress, where the balance between free radicals [damaging molecules linked to disease] and antioxidants [which mop up free radicals] becomes imbalanced, causing damage to cell DNA."
The presence of particulate matter also affects glands throughout the body responsible for hormone production — particularly those related to breast and prostate cancer, both of which are hormone-dependent.
A 2019 study published in the journal Medicine, which collated data from 14 studies encompassing over a million cases of breast cancer, revealed that with every 10 micrograms per cubic meter increase in PM2.5 the likelihood of death from the disease rose by 17 percent.
A 2023 US research published in Environmental Epidemiology, which investigated records of 2.2 million men, shwed that men diagnosed with prostate cancer were more likely to have encountered elevated levels of PM2.5 in the decade preceding their diagnosis.
Particulate matter exposure has been linked to various other cancers including this of the stomach, lungs, bladder, bowels, ovaries and uterus.
"Avoid areas of high pollution where possible, but don't rely on masks — they offer little protection against this type of pollution... I also recommend eating a Mediterranean-style diet full of antioxidants to neutralize the effect of PM2.5. This means eating fish; fruit such as pomegranates, strawberries, blueberries, and tomatoes; vegetables such as kale and broccoli; and drinking green tea daily," the surgeon recommended.
Growing evidence indicates that vaping delivers PM2.5 directly into the lungs, underlining the health risks of the supposedly safe alternative to smoking. While further research is required, Mokbel argued that the potential link between air pollution and cancer show the need for tighter air quality laws.