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Chemicals In Mothers' Breast Milk Linked
to Increased Rate of Testicular Cancer
Chemicals such as pesticides have been found in breast
milk and could increase the risk of son's developing testicular
cancer later in life.
Pollutant chemicals in mothers' breast
milk have been linked to an increased rate of testicular
cancer.
A study in Denmark suggests hormone-disrupting chemicals such
as pesticides may explain why so many men in the country develop
the disease.
Danish men are up to four times more likely to have testicular
cancer as men than in neighbouring Finland.
Denmark also suffers high rates of other male reproductive disorders,
including poor semen quality and genital abnormalities.
Many experts believe man-made pollutants that alter the effect
of hormones in the developing foetus may be to blame.
Researchers measured levels of 121 chemicals in 68 samples of
breast milk from women in Denmark and Finland.
They found a dramatic difference between the two countries. Danish
breast milk had significantly higher levels of some chemicals,
including dioxins, polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs) and pesticides,
than Finnish breast milk.
Chemicals in breast milk acted as a marker of exposure to the
pollutants in the womb, said the scientists, whose findings are
reported in the International Journal of Andrology.
Previous research in animals and humans has suggested a connection
between hormone-disrupting chemicals and testicular cancer.
Why women in Denmark should have more of the chemicals in their
breast milk than their Finnish neighbours remains unclear.
Study leader Professor Niels Skakkebaek, from the University
Department of Growth and Reproduction in Copenhagen, said: 'We
were very surprised to find that some EDC (endocrine disrupting
chemicals) levels, including some dioxins, PCBs and some pesticides,
were significantly higher in Denmark than in Finland.
'Our findings reinforce the view that environmental exposure
to EDCs may explain some of the temporal and between-country differences
in incidence of male reproductive disorders.'
However he urged women to continue breast feeding which had 'many
beneficial effects for the child'.
Rates of testicular cancer vary greatly around the world. In
the UK, almost 2,000 men are diagnosed with the disease each year,
while in the US the number is more than 8,000.
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