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An unintentional side effect of industrialization may be an environment that bathes its inhabitants in a sea of pollutants with estrogenic effects. A number of researchers around the world are investigating mechanisms other than dietary fat to explain breast cancer's rise. Although results are far from conclusive, they do suggest that some industrial agents such as pesticides and ingredients in plastics mimic the hormone estrogen in their effects on the body. Others such as magnetic fields and certain combustion by-products can boost the concentration of estrogens circulate in the bloodstream. Research on light and electromagnetic field exposures is also underway. This article summarizes various aspects of research on alternative causes for breast cancer. Most researchers working on xenoestrogens offer two general cautions: the mechanisms suggested to explain the effects of the possible new agents are not mutually exclusive and the relative significance of the new factors is unproved.
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Janet Raloff (1993) studied this question.
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