Low level exposure to cadmium, a common food pollutant may significantly increase the risk of developing cancer among women, new Swedish study warns. The heavy and toxic metal is widely used in batteries, pigments and metal plating and is also by-product of ore smelting, Press TV reported.
Prior studies have tied the substance to some health conditions such as breast cancer but did not suggest a definite mechanism behind the association. To study possible DNA changes caused by long-term exposure to cadmium, researchers followed over 200 Argentinean women who live in the Andean plateau, a region that has minimal industrial pollution and low vehicle traffic.
Scientists accessed the participants' exposure to cadmium by measuring its levels in the women's urine and blood. They also studied DNA obtained from participants' blood samples. The findings disclosed that long-term dietary exposure to low doses of the toxic metal may cause chemical changes to DNA molecules and turn genes on or off in a way that triggers cancer.
Cadmium affects how the DNA in cells is tagged or marked by a methyl group, a process that can alter the way the genes are read and expressed, researchers wrote in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. The decreased number of DNA markers associated with cadmium exposures in the women resemble genes commonly found in cancer cells and not normal cells, added Mohammad Bakhtiar Hossain of Lund University and colleagues. The study for the first time have suggested a genetic explanation for the association found between long-term exposure to low levels of cadmium and women's cancer risk.
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