The journal Occupation and Environmental Medicine reports that certain women are more at risk of developing breast cancer because of where they work.
Researchers at the Robert Sauvé Occupational Health and Safety Research Institute in Montreal admit that their results are not yet fully developed.
They found that women younger than 36 years old who are exposed to certain chemical products in their workplace have an increased risk of developing the illness. The most vulnerable are those who come into contact with synthetic fibres or petroleum products.
Dr. France Labrèche led this study which found that these products triple a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer after menopause.
These results were obtained after the research team consulted the medical records of 1,169 patients aged 50 to 75 years with breast cancer.
The study concludes "Certain occupational exposures appear to increase the risk of developing postmenopausal breast cancer, although some findings might be due to chance or to undetected bias. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that breast tissue is more sensitive to adverse effects if exposure occurs when breast cells are still proliferating."