Philadelphia, Pa. — New research from Karolinska Institutet, Stocklholm, suggests that there is a link between breast cancer and dietary cadmium. The results, which are presented online in cancer research supported by the American Association for Cancer Research, are based on data from more than 55,000 women. The article points out that cadmium is released into the environment producing and using phosphate fertilizer, from mining and metal processing operations, burning fuels and disposing of metal products. People living near industry that conducts any of these activities may be exposed to cadmium. The conclusions, however, are regarded as erroneous by The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) which stated that scientific risk assessments (including one from the Environmental Protection Agency) have found that cadmium in fertilizers does not pose a risk to the health of farm soils or to the consumers of products that are grown on those soils. “As an aside, TFI stated, “phosphate manufacturing only releases minute amounts into the atmosphere, so if someone brings that up, there is no real exposure there either.” One of the researchers, Bettina Julin, doctoral student at Karolinska Institutet’s Institute of Environmental Medicine, explained that cadmium concentrations in food are generally quite low and that there are several other scientifically established causes of breast cancer. The study is based on a survey of the dietary habits of 55,987 women in Uppsala and Västmanland carried out in 1987. The researchers estimated how much cadmium the women had ingested with their food on the basis of the cadmium content of every single food item that they ate. Over the 12-year follow-up period, they were able to note 2,112 cases of breast cancer occurring post-menopause. They also discovered importantly that the women who ate mostly wholegrain products (e.g. wholemeal bread) and vegetables were less likely to develop breast cancer than women who had been exposed to cadmium through other sorts of food. The researchers also note, however, that bread and vegetables are the most common sources of dietary cadmium, a fact that complicates the interpretation of the results of their work. We certainly cannot advise women against eating a certain kind of food; indeed, it seems as if wholegrain products and vegetables even provide a degree of protection against cancer," says lead investigator Agneta Åkesson, docent at the Institute of Environmental Medicine. "On the other hand, these findings are interesting given the current debate on what levels of cadmium we’re to accept in our environment, bearing in mind the health hazards it poses."
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