Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41231307›Full record

SynthesisCurrent environmental health reports2025

Hazardous Environmental Pollutants and Cancer Disparities: A Systematic Review on the Consideration of Race and Ethnicity in Environmental Epidemiology Research.

Molly E Schwalb, Kala Visvanathan, Avonne E Connor, Christine Marie George, Ana M Rule, Eliseo Guallar, Miranda R Jones

Abstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Current environmental health reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Molly E SchwalbDepartment of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
Kala VisvanathanDepartment of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
Avonne E ConnorDepartment of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
Christine Marie GeorgeDepartment of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Ana M RuleDepartment of Environmental Health and Engineering, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Eliseo GuallarDepartment of Epidemiology, New York University Global School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA.
Miranda R JonesDepartment of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA. mjone132@jhu.edu.

Funding

INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH CANCER EPIDEMIOLOGY FELLOWSHIPT32CA009314 · NCI · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI Corinne E. Joshu, Meghan Bridgid Moran · 1985 to 2026
$11.2M
NCI NIH HHS T32 CA009314
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purpose of reviewThere are disparities in cancer incidence, mortality, and survival by race/ethnicity. As a result of structural mechanisms of discrimination, minoritized racial/ethnic groups are disproportionately exposed to higher levels of environmental carcinogens. Increased risk of exposure to harmful environmental pollutants may contribute to observed cancer disparities by race/ethnicity, but few studies have examined this effect. How race/ethnicity is operationalized in epidemiologic studies can impact interpretation of associations and potentially mask disparities, preventing the development of targeted public health interventions. We conducted a systematic review of epidemiologic studies on ambient environmental pollution and cancer outcomes in US adults and assessed how race/ethnicity was operationalized. RECENT

findingsA total of 3,346 studies were identified. We found that of 172 studies that included race/ethnicity, 85/172 (49%) only considered race/ethnicity as a confounder. Of the remaining 87 studies, 60/87 (69%) stratified analyses by race/ethnicity, 9/87 (10%) were minority health studies that included one non-White racial/ethnic group, 18/87 (21%) examined estimated cancer risk as an outcome with race/ethnicity as the main exposure. Despite these limited analyses, many of these studies found stronger associations among racial/ethnic minority groups. One study examined environmental exposures as a causal mediator to explain potential disparities in cancer outcomes. There is a need for more research on racial/ethnic cancer disparities related to environmental pollutants. Researchers should consider developing data sources and leverage existing databases with robust racial/ethnic diversity and put ethical consideration into how race/ethnicity is included in conceptual frameworks to ensure fairness, equity, and clarity.

Indexed as

Environmental ExposureEnvironmental PollutantsEthnicityHealth Status DisparitiesNeoplasmsRacial GroupsHumansUnited StatesEnvironmental PollutantsAir pollutionBiomarkersCancerHealth equityWater pollution

Identifiers

PMID41231307
PMCPMC13316963

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.