Increased Particulate Air Pollution Linked to Higher Breast Cancer Incidence NIH Study

National Institutes of Health researchers have found that living in an area with high levels of particulate air pollution was linked with an increased incidence of breast cancer. The researchers saw that the largest increases in breast cancer incidence was among women who on average had higher particulate matter levels (PM2.5) near their home prior to enrolling in the study, compared to those who lived in areas with lower levels of PM2.5.

The study was conducted using information from the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study, which enrolled more than 500,000 men and women between 1995-96. The women in the cohort were on average about 62 years of age and most identified as being non-Hispanic white. They were followed for approximately 20 years, during which 15,870 breast cancer cases were identified.

Reference: White AJ, Fisher JA, Sweeney MR, Freedman ND, Kaufman JD, Silverman DT, Jones RR. 2023. Ambient fine particulate matter and breast cancer incidence in a large prospective US cohort. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. https://doi.org/10.1093/jnci/djad170(link is external)