Pollution from toxic waste sites increase breast cancer risk

Living near a toxic waste site can increase your risk of developing aggressive breast cancer by as much as 30 percent.

Rates of triple-negative breast cancer—the hardest to treat—are higher in areas where there is air pollution, and researchers from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine say one of the biggest culprits are toxic waste sites, known as Superfund sites in the US.

Residents living near one of the 60 Superfund sites in Florida had contacted the university about the high rates of breast cancer in their communities.  The researchers reviewed more than 21,000 breast cancer cases diagnosed in the state between 2015 and 2019 and discovered that women who lived within a few miles of at least one Superfund site were about 30 percent more likely to be diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer.

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