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Green cleaning, Breast cancer and cleaning chemicals, the facts
Do the chemicals in cleaning products cause breat cancer and should be looking at green cleaning as an alternative

House-proud Women who like to keep their homes clean may be at greater risk of breast cancer, research suggests.

Could the use of green cleaning products reduce this exposure?

Scientists found there are significant links between the disease and women's usage of cleaning products.

Normal use of cleaners tripled the risk of breast cancer in women who used them the most , experts found.

Among the different kinds of products, mould killers and air fresheners had the strongest association.

Green cleaning alternatives should always feature no toxic chemicals in there ingrediant lista and are therefor are an ideal option for women worried about this connection.

Alternativly, insect replellents and pesticides had little to no impact on breast cancer risk.

Researchers conducted mobile conversations with 787 women aged 50 to 80 years old in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, with breast cancer and 721 healthy women also in that age range.

The femails were asked about their use of products and pesticides, and divided into 4 groups from between high and low users. Cancer rates for the different groups were then compared.

Study leader Dr Julia Brody, Who works for the Silent Spring Institute in Newton, Massachusetts, said: "Women who have the highest combined cleaning product use had an almost trebeled risk of contracting breast cancer in comparison to those with the lowest reported use.

"Use of air fresheners and products for mould and mildew control were associated with a larger than averageincreased risk. To our knowledge, this could well be the first report on cleaning product use and risk of breast cancer."

Air freshening products were found to double breast cancer risk with women who were in the largest user category, as did weekly use of mould and mildew-removing chemicals.

Scientists state that if consumers were using green cleaning systems then this could remove this risk altogether.

Most air fresheners have ingredients suspected to create breast cancer in animals, said the researchers.

Many were also made with endocrine (hormone) disrupting chemicals (EDCs) that could potentially affect the growth of oestrogen-sensitive breast cancer cells.

Not present in green cleaning products, Hormone-disruptors such as synthetic musks were often used in air fresheners, it was also discovered. Air fresheners could also contain lethalchemicals called terpenes which react with ozone in the air to form cancer triggers such as benzene they concluded.


"Even though these levels may be perceived as low and EDCs are generally typically less potent than endogenous hormones, limited knowledge of product formulas and exposure levels of chemical constituents alone and in combination make it difficult to assess risks associated with product use," the researchers wrote.

The scientists acknowledged that their conclusions might be swayed by "recall bias" because they depended on answers to questions. As to whether green cleaning products could decrease this risk, the answer was a resolute yes in favour of using less chemicals and more green cleaning products.

For instance, women that accused chemical pollutants for their breast cancer could be more probable to report high usage of cleaning products. Women who said they were using only green cleaning products were not tested in the report.

Dr Brody commented that it was also true that women with cancer, who put a lot of thought about the likely cause of their disease, may be more likely to remember their use of cleaning products accurately.

Such unknown factors could be altogther avoided with a "prospective" study which followed the fate of a study group over several years.

More information about green cleaning alternatives can be found at websites such as www.puregreencleaning.com.au which offers up interesting and healthy common alternatives to cleaning with dangerious chemicals.

References and sources:

http://greencleaning23.wikispaces.com/+Breast+cancer+and+Green+Cleaning+
http://greg41pate.terapad.com/index.cfm?fa=contentNews.newsDetails&newsID=678751&from=list

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