9% of cases could be avoided and 2.5 billion euros saved if the thresholds for exposure to nitrogen dioxide recommended by the WHO were respected.
Thousands of breast cancers could be avoided each year in France by drastically improving air quality. This conclusion, opening up avenues for the prevention of the most common cancer in women, is that of Inserm researchers who examined the link between the risk of breast tumors and chronic exposure to air pollution.
Read alsoAir pollution kills 67,000 people a year
The XENAIR study, whose latest results were presented on Monday, October 3 before their publication in a scientific journal, highlights an increased risk of cancer in the event of exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2), an urban pollutant from mainly from car traffic, as well as benzopyrene and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). These two substances are now less present in ambient air because they have been heavily regulated.
Scientists also observe an association, which is statistically less clear, between breast cancer and exposure to fine particles (PM2.5 and…
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