Annual Meeting of the NCI Cohort Consortium (Abstract Submission): Submission #3
Submission information
Submission Number: 3
Submission ID: 186180
Submission UUID: 267cbc4b-6bcd-440e-9a8a-be8bfe1b32a9
Submission URI: /egrp/cohortconsortium/abstracts
Submission Update: /egrp/cohortconsortium/abstracts?token=k0-phd-jfLJV2KQhxczwbcpKVG6YFO07XnoGYOfJpnY
Created: Thu, 07/09/2026 - 14:22
Completed: Thu, 07/09/2026 - 14:25
Changed: Thu, 07/09/2026 - 14:25
Remote IP address: 10.208.24.52
Submitted by: Anonymous
Language: English
Is draft: No
Webform: Cohort Abstract
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Abstract Information
Chemical and metal emissions from industrial sources and breast cancer risk in the Black Women’s Health Study
Background: Industrial facilities emit known mammary carcinogens and endocrine disrupting chemicals to air, including chemicals associated with breast cancer in epidemiological studies of post-menopausal and non-Hispanic White women. We investigated these relationships in a prospective cohort of Black women.
Methods: We used the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Toxics Release Inventory to estimate historical airborne emissions (1987-1995) of 19 chemicals and metals with prior evidence of mammary carcinogenicity and/or estrogenicity among 49,256 premenopausal and postmenopausal women enrolled (1995) in the Black Women’s Health Study. A total of 3,585 breast cancers were diagnosed through 2021. We constructed inverse distance- and wind-weighted average emissions metrics for each chemical within 2, 5 and 10km of the enrollment address. We estimated multivariable adjusted (age, region, smoking, parity, body mass index) HRs and 95% CIs for exposure tertiles (T) or quartiles (Q) in association with breast cancer risk.
Results: For cobalt exposure within 2km of the home, the HR for the highest tertile of exposure vs. non-exposed was 1.38, CI=0.97-1.98; p-trend=0.06. The association was attenuated for exposure within 5km (HRT3 vs. non-exposed=1.13, CI=0.96-1.32; p-trend=0.13) and 10km (HRT3 vs. non-exposed=1.06, CI=0.95-1.18; p-trend=0.34). For lead exposure within 2km of the home, the HR for the highest quartile versus non-exposed was 1.21, CI=0.81-1.78; p-trend=0.32; the HRs were similarly weakened at 5km and 10km. Associations with other chemicals and metals were null or lacked clear patterns.
Conclusion: Suggestive findings of increased breast cancer risk in association with relatively high air emissions of cobalt and lead from industrial sources near the home warrant further study.
Methods: We used the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Toxics Release Inventory to estimate historical airborne emissions (1987-1995) of 19 chemicals and metals with prior evidence of mammary carcinogenicity and/or estrogenicity among 49,256 premenopausal and postmenopausal women enrolled (1995) in the Black Women’s Health Study. A total of 3,585 breast cancers were diagnosed through 2021. We constructed inverse distance- and wind-weighted average emissions metrics for each chemical within 2, 5 and 10km of the enrollment address. We estimated multivariable adjusted (age, region, smoking, parity, body mass index) HRs and 95% CIs for exposure tertiles (T) or quartiles (Q) in association with breast cancer risk.
Results: For cobalt exposure within 2km of the home, the HR for the highest tertile of exposure vs. non-exposed was 1.38, CI=0.97-1.98; p-trend=0.06. The association was attenuated for exposure within 5km (HRT3 vs. non-exposed=1.13, CI=0.96-1.32; p-trend=0.13) and 10km (HRT3 vs. non-exposed=1.06, CI=0.95-1.18; p-trend=0.34). For lead exposure within 2km of the home, the HR for the highest quartile versus non-exposed was 1.21, CI=0.81-1.78; p-trend=0.32; the HRs were similarly weakened at 5km and 10km. Associations with other chemicals and metals were null or lacked clear patterns.
Conclusion: Suggestive findings of increased breast cancer risk in association with relatively high air emissions of cobalt and lead from industrial sources near the home warrant further study.