Environment and Breast Cancer: Science Review


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x-rays, gamma rays (ionizing radiation)
CAS RN NA1



Major use
We assigned each chemical into one of the following groups based on its major sources and uses: industrial chemicals, chlorinated solvents, products of combustion, pesticides, dyes, radiation and drinking water disinfection, pharmaceuticals, hormones, natural products, and research chemicals.
Radiation
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Found in consumer products
"Likely" indicates that the chemical is contained in consumer products or traces of the chemical are present in products, including food and water, resulting in likely exposure for the general population. For some chemicals marked as "likely," consumer product uses have been discontinued, and this will be indicated in the "Use in Consumer Products" field.
Not likely
Food additive in US
Chemicals are classified as "Listed" or "Not listed" in the Everything Added to Food in the United States database developed by the US Food and Drug Administration.(22)
Not listed
California Proposition 65
Chemicals are labeled "Listed" or "Not listed" based on the Proposition 65 list of chemicals updated on May 27, 2005. Listed chemicals are "chemicals known by the State of California to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity"(19).
Not listed
Air pollutant
Chemicals classified as "Likely" air pollutants are those likely to be found in indoor or outdoor air, including products of combustion and industrial chemicals that may offgas from consumer products, leading to human exposure.
Not likely
Current High Production Volume chemical
Chemicals are classified "Yes" or "No," based on 2002 production volume information submitted to the US EPA: "Yes" for >1 million pounds produced; "No" for < 1 million pounds produced. Some past production volumes are referenced, where appropriate, in the HPV comment column (20). In addition, Scorecard.org is referenced and noted in the HPV comment column when it was inconsistent with current production volume information obtained from US EPA (21).
No
Production volume information
Production volume information is from the US EPA database on non-confidential production volume information submitted by companies for chemicals under the 1986-2002 Inventory Update Rule (IUR) using the most updated (2002) values (20). The Inventory Update Rule requires the submission of basic production data every four years on chemical substances manufactured (including imported) for commercial purposes in amounts of 25,000 pounds or more at a single site. Out of over 80,000 chemicals on the TSCA Chemical Substances Inventory, reports are required for approximately 9,000 substances. For those substances with annual volumes of 300,000 lbs or more per site, reporters also submit chemical processing and use information.
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General population exposure
This field includes information describing pathways of exposure for the general population obtained from a variety of sources including: IARC Monographs (9), NTP 11th ROC on Carcinogens (4), NTP Study Reports and Abstracts (3), Hazardous Substance Database (10), and other sources located through use of the Google search engine.
The greatest exposure of the general population to X-rays and g-rays comes from natural terrestrial radiation. The next most significant source is the use of X-rays and radiopharmaceuticals in various diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Exposures from the atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons have diminished, and only small contributions to the collective human dose are made by the generation of electrical energy by nuclear reactors, by accidental releases from nuclear facilities and radioactive devices and by occupational exposure during medical uses, commercial nuclear fuel cycles, nuclear industrial sources, military activities and the clean-up of nuclear or radiation accidents. The latter contributions are important, however, as they can result in significant exposure of groups or individuals. The average annual effective dose from X- and g-rays from natural sources is about 0.5 mSv, with elevated values up to about 5 mSv. Medical procedures in developed countries result in an annual effective dose of about 1–2 mSv, of which about two-thirds comes from diagnostic radiography. Possible exposures in medicine vary widely, however, ranging from several hundred millisieverts from frequent diagnostic procedures to several sieverts from therapeutic procedures. The annual effective doses to monitored workers are commonly in the range of 1–10 mSv (IARC 2000 vol.:75).
Use in consumer products
Summaries of chemical use in consumer products were developed from information found in US EPA SRD (11), NLM HPD (12), and Scorecard (12). Major uses were taken from IARC Monographs (9), NTP 11th ROC (4), NTP Study Reports (3), HSDB (10), and PAN Pesticides Database (13). If a chemical could not be found in these sources, we searched ToxNet (14), PubChem (15), and The Merck Index (16), and conducted searches by both name and CAS No. using Google.
No consumer products listed in SRD, HPD, or Scorecard. X-rays, gamma rays, and materials and processes that emit X-rays and gamma rays are used in medicine, the nuclear power industry, the military, scientific research, industry, and various consumer products. The most important sources of X-radiation and gamma radiation include natural sources, medical uses, atmospheric nuclear weapons tests, nuclear accidents, and nuclear power generation. Ionizing radiation is present naturally in the environment from cosmic and terrestrial sources. Cosmic radiation is a minor source of exposure to X-radiation and gamma radiation; most natural exposure is from terrestrial sources (11th ROC).
Occupational exposure to women
We extracted the total number of potentially exposed workers and the number of potentially exposed female workers from the National Occupational Exposure Survey (NOES) 1981-1983; we listed specific industry classifications if >5,000 women were potentially exposed in that industry. Note: NOES does not include farm workers.
NOES 1981-1983- (For x radiation only)- Total exposed: 203,628 Females exposed: 124,739 Occupational fields: physicians, nurses, clinical lab technicians, radiologic technologists, health technologists/technicians, nursing aides, orderlies and attendants
US EPA cancer classification
The US EPA Weight of Evidence Characterization of the chemical’s carcinogenic potential is listed: Group A: Carcinogenic to humans; Group B: Probably carcinogenic to humans. Group C: Possibly carcinogenic to humans. Group D: Not classifiable as to human carcinogenicity. Group E: Evidence of non-carcinogenicity for humans. NA: Not evaluated by US EPA (17).
NA
NIOSH Pocket Guide - potential carcinogen?
This field indicates whether NIOSH identifies the chemical as a potential carcinogen for workers (yes/no) (24).
NA
NIOSH Pocket Guide - cancer sites
Lists target organs from animal cancer bioassays (24).
NA
Risk assessments not reviewed for this chemical