ArticleJournal of the National Cancer Institute2023
Ethylene oxide emissions and incident breast cancer and non-Hodgkin lymphoma in a US cohort.
Article in Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The Relationship Between Climate Change and Breast Cancer and Its Management and Preventative Implications in South Africa.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Pooled it
- Global ethylene oxide uses in foods and considerations for food safety.Journal of public health policy · 2026Review
- Exposure to Industrial Air Toxics and Risk of Breast Cancer in California: The Multiethnic Cohort Study.Journal of occupational and environmental medicine · 2026Article
- Industrial point source emissions and incident breast and lung cancers: two case-control studies.Cancer causes & control : CCC · 2026Article
- Accuracy of Three-Dimensionally Printed, Patient-Specific Drill Guides for Implant Placement in Canine Cervical Vertebrae: A Cadaveric Study.Veterinary sciences · 2025Article
- Residential proximity to national priorities list superfund sites is associated with increased likelihood of metastatic breast cancer presentation.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Association between ethylene oxide exposure and osteoarthritis risk mediated by oxidative stress: evidence from NHANES 2013-2020.Medical gas research · 2025Article
- Industrial Air Emissions and Breast Cancer Incidence in a United States-wide Prospective Cohort.Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2025Article
- Exposure to Ethylene Oxide and Relative Rates of Female Breast Cancer Mortality: 62 Years of Follow-Up in a Large US Occupational Cohort.Environmental health perspectives · 2025Article
- Enhanced Bioprinting of 3D Corneal Stroma Patches with Reliability, Assessing Product Consistency and Quality through Optimized Electron Beam Sterilization.Advanced healthcare materials · 2025Article
- Association between ethylene oxide exposure and cognitive function in older adults from NHANES data.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Association between ethylene oxide exposure and serum sex hormone levels measured in a reference sample of the US general population.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025Article
- Association of ethylene oxide exposure and obstructive sleep apnea.Environmental health and preventive medicine · 2025Article
- Associations between blood ethylene oxide levels and serum neurofilament light chain concentrations in adults: evidence from the NHANES.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Association of ethylene oxide exposure with serum neurofilament light chain levels among American adults.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Association between ethylene oxide exposure and osteoarthritis risk among middle-aged and young adults: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Article
- Carcinogenic industrial air pollution and postmenopausal breast cancer risk in the National Institutes of Health AARP Diet and Health Study.Environment international · 2024Article
- Associations between Ethylene Oxide Exposure and Liver Function in the US Adult Population.Toxics · 2024Article
- Sociodemographic inequities in the burden of carcinogenic industrial air emissions in the United States.Journal of the National Cancer Institute · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundEthylene oxide (EtO) is a carcinogenic gas used in chemical production and to sterilize medical equipment that has been linked to risk of breast and lymphohematopoietic cancers in a small number of occupational studies. We investigated the relationship between environmental EtO exposure and risk of these cancers.
methodsUsing the US Environmental Protection Agency's Toxics Release Inventory, we estimated historical exposures for National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study participants enrolled in 1995-1996. We constructed 2 metrics at 3, 5, and 10 km: 1) distance between residences and EtO-emitting facilities, weighted by the proportion of time the home was downwind of each facility, and 2) distance-weighted, wind direction-adjusted average airborne emissions index (AEI=∑[lbs EtO/km2]). We estimated risk (hazard ratio [HR], 95% confidence interval [CI]) of incident breast cancer (in situ and invasive) among postmenopausal women (n = 173 670) overall and by tumor estrogen receptor status and non-Hodgkin lymphoma in the full cohort (n = 451 945).
resultsWe observed an increased risk of breast cancer associated with EtO-emitting facilities within 10 km (HR[≤10vs>10] = 1.05, 95% CI = 1.00 to 1.10) that appeared stronger for in situ (HR[≤10vs>10] = 1.13, 95% CI = 1.00 to 1.27) than invasive (HR[≤10vs>10] = 1.03, 95% CI = 0.97 to 1.09) disease. Risk of breast cancer in situ was also increased in the top AEI quartiles, and associations weakened with larger distances (HR[Q4vs0] = 1.60, 95% CI = 0.98 to 2.61; HR[Q4vs0] = 1.28, 95% CI = 0.92 to 1.79; HR[Q4vs0] = 1.25, 95% CI = 1.02 to 1.53 at 3, 5, and 10 km, respectively). No differences in breast cancer risk were observed by estrogen receptor status. We found no clear pattern of increased non-Hodgkin lymphoma risk.
conclusionsA novel potential association between EtO emissions and risk of in situ, but not invasive, breast cancer warrants additional evaluation.
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