2026-10-14T21:02:19Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/33970788 2026-09-23T05:03:55Z category_4 category_19 category_21 category_272 category_873 category_39 category_734 category_64 category_106 portal_63 item_type_3 month_year_09_2026

Guiding Risk Reduction for Breast Cancer-Relevant Chemicals (BC-Chems): Chemical Production Volumes, Sources, Intake Levels, Emissions, and Regulations Jennifer E. Kay (573514) Rashmi Shakti (20348504) Jillian T. McEneaney (25094163) Claudia Polsky (15314768) Megan Schwarzman (25094166) Ruthann A. Rudel (1265487) Biochemistry Pharmacology Biotechnology Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified Ecology Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified Cancer Science Policy studying health effects median daily intakes kg body weight induce mammary tumors identify production volumes health protective policies guide systematic prioritization age groups continues potential breast carcinogens guiding risk reduction inform bc research regulations breast cancer chems likely present predicted exposure levels 1 million pounds increase bc risk found 500 bc breast cancer intake levels exposure reduction 1 mg cancer screening vitro </ us population relevant chemical progesterone signaling preventing harm pesticide formulations monitoring exposures industrial activities exposure could environmental releases end predictions drinking water consumer products construction materials common products avoiding use assessing risks among women activate estrogen 40 cannot Breast cancer (BC) among women in all age groups continues to increase. Changes in reproductive risk factors cannot explain these trends, and rising rates among women under 40 cannot be explained by cancer screening, suggesting other factors are involved. We recently identified 920 chemicals whose biological activity suggests they can increase BC risk, the breast cancer-relevant chemical (BC-Chem) list, because they induce mammary tumors in rodents or activate estrogen or progesterone signaling <i>in vitro</i>. To develop exposure reduction strategies and inform BC research, we used US government databases to identify production volumes, uses, environmental releases, and predicted exposure levels in the US population. We found that exposure to potential breast carcinogens is ubiquitous. Billions of pounds of BC-Chems were emitted to air in 2020; tens of millions of pounds were released to the environment through industrial activities in 2024; and 143 were produced at 1 million pounds or more in 2019. Further, we found 500 BC-Chems likely present in consumer products, 462 in food, 162 in drinking water, 485 in pesticide formulations, 142 in pharmaceuticals, and 106 in construction materials. High-end predictions for median daily intakes in the US population exceeded 0.1 mg/kg body weight for 84 BC-Chems. Exposure could be reduced by health protective policies such as regulating drinking water contaminants and avoiding use in common products. These findings provide quantitative evidence to guide systematic prioritization of chemicals and mixtures for studying health effects, monitoring exposures, assessing risks, and preventing harm through exposure reduction. 2026-09-23T00:00:00Z Dataset Dataset 10.1021/EHP.6c00022.s006 https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Guiding_Risk_Reduction_for_Breast_Cancer-Relevant_Chemicals_BC-Chems_Chemical_Production_Volumes_Sources_Intake_Levels_Emissions_and_Regulations/33970788 CC BY-NC 4.0