Exposure to organochlorine pesticides as a predictor to breast cancer: A case-control study among Ethiopian women

Breast cancer (BC) is becoming one of the most prevalent non-infectious disease in low and middle income countries. The steady rise of BC incidence may be related to the different risk factors. Among many, rampant presence of environmental pollutants might be one of the risk factors. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate exposure to organochlorine pesticides as a risk factor to breast cancer. A case-control study design was employed among breast cancer patients and non-breast cancer individuals (controls). Blood samples were collected from 100 study participants (50 cases and 50 controls) followed by serum separation, extraction and cleanup using standard analytical procdures. The findings revealed that ten organochlorine pesticides were detected in the serum of the study participants. From the detected organochlorine pesticides, heptachlor was observed at higher concentration for breast cancer patients (6.90±4.37 μg/L) and controls (9.15±3.84 μg/L). Mean serum level of p,p’-DDE, p,p’-DDT, heptachlor, gamma-chlordane, endosulfan, and dibutyl-chlorendate were significantly higher in the serum of breast cancer patients than the controls. From the studied pesticides, p,p’-DDT and gamma-chlordane are significant predictors for BC, while, others are equivocal. A unit increment of the concentration of p,p’-DDT (AOR; 2.03, 95% CI: 1.041–3.969) increased the odds of developing breast cancer by two, while for gamma-chlordane (AOR;3.12, 95% CI; 1.186–8.203) by three. Our study results suggesting that, organochlorines are a risk factors for breast cancer in Ethiopia. Decreasing exposure to such organochlorines might have a significant public health relevance in reducing non-communicable chronic illnesses. Besides, continues monitoring of persistent organic pollutants using body biomarkers is important for disease prevention and device mitigation measures.