Women who work on farms are three times more likely to develop breast cancer as a result of exposure to pesticides, and women who grew up and worked on farms are four times more likely to develop breast cancer, according to occupational and environmental health scientist James Brophy. Brophy conducted a study of 564 women diagnosed with breast cancer at the Windsor Regional Cancer Centre, and after he took genetics, smoking, age, number of children and hormone replacement therapies into account, working on a farm appeared to be a notable factor in a number of women diagnosed with breast cancer.
Brophy theorizes that childhood and occupational exposure to cancer-causing agents such as pesticides might be a factor in the increase of breast cancer.
"I'm not saying we have the smoking gun on breast cancer. We don't,'' stated Brophy. "What I think we do have is a study that shows the importance of looking at occupation as a potential risk factor.''
