Outdoor air pollution linked to higher incidence of breast cancer

Oregon State University

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CORVALLIS, Ore. – Women living in parts of the United States with lower air quality, especially neighborhoods with heavy emissions from motor vehicles, are more likely to develop breast cancer, according to a multiyear analysis involving more than 400,000 women and 28,000 breast cancer cases.

The research, which included Veronica Irvin of the Oregon State University College of Health, was published in the American Journal of Public Health.

The project combined data from five large breast cancer studies conducted over multiple decades that tracked individuals even as they changed addresses and followed them for as long as 10 years prior to their diagnosis. The researchers overlaid outdoor air quality information from more than 2,600 monitors to look for an association between air pollution and breast cancer.

The scientists found that a 10-parts-per-billion increase in nitrogen dioxide concentrations in the air equated to a 3% increase in overall breast cancer incidence; nitrogen dioxide is a proxy for pollution from car traffic, Irvin said, and based on the estimated 316,950 cases of female breast cancer expected to be diagnosed in the United States this year, a 3% reduction would mean 9,500 fewer cases.

Irvin and collaborators also found that a 5-microgram-per-cubic-meter rise in the concentration of fine particulate matter, known as PM2.5, was associated with a higher incidence of hormone receptor-negative breast cancer. Cancer cells lacking receptors for the sex hormones estrogen and progesterone are generally harder to treat and more deadly.

“It’s often not realistic for people to leave their homes and relocate in areas with better air quality in search of less health risk, so we need more effective clean air laws to help those who are most in need,” said Irvin, noting that the average nitrogen dioxide concentrations observed in the research were below current Environmental Protection Agency guidelines. “We also need policies that help to reduce car traffic and promote alternative forms of transportation.”

The incidence of breast cancer in the United States, where air pollution levels are lower than they are in other populous countries, has been generally on the rise over the past 40 years, the researchers note. It’s the second leading cause of cancer death among women, after lung cancer. About one woman in eight in the U.S. will develop breast cancer during her lifetime, and the nation’s population includes more than 4 million breast cancer survivors.

Alexandra White of the National Institutes of Health led the study, which also included scientists from Harvard University; the University of Washington; Indiana University; Stony Brook University, the University of California San Diego, La Jolla; The Ohio State University; and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

The NIH, the EPA, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the National Institute of Aging, and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute supported the research.

Irvin is the Celia Strickland Austin and G. Kenneth Austin III Endowed Professor in Public Health in the OSU College of Health, which will host a free online panel discussion, “Our Health & Breast Cancer,” at noon Pacific time on Thursday, Oct. 30. Irvin will be one of the panelists for the discussion, which will look at screening and survivorship, early detection, research, and support and mentorship for those affected by breast cancer.

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Journal

American Journal of Public Health

DOI

10.2105/AJPH.2025.308247 

Method of Research

Meta-analysis

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Air Pollutants and Breast Cancer Risk: A Parallel Analysis of Five Large US Prospective Cohorts

 

Earth’s ‘boring billion years’ created the conditions for complex life

Plate tectonics played central role shaping life-supporting oceans

University of Sydney

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video: 

Relative plate motions and plate boundary geometries are from Cao et al. (2024), with plate motions placed in a mantle reference frame. Continents are light grey, with continental margins shown in medium grey. Passive continental margins (continental shelves) are marked by thin, light blue lines. The intensity of volcanic carbon outgassing from mid-ocean ridges is red (low) to yellow (high). Dark blue to light pink oceanic background colours represent oceanic crustal carbon storage. 

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Credit: Dietmar Müller/EarthByte Group/The University of Sydney

A study led by researchers from the University of Sydney and the University of Adelaide has revealed how the breakup of an ancient supercontinent 1.5 billion years ago transformed Earth’s surface environments, paving the way for the emergence of complex life.

“Our approach shows how plate tectonics has helped shape the habitability of the Earth,” lead author Professor Dietmar Müller said. “It provides a new way to think about how tectonics, climate and life co-evolved through deep time.”

The research, published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters, challenges the notion of the “Boring Billion” – a time of supposed stasis, or biological and geological inactivity, in Earth’s history. Instead it shows that plate tectonics was reshaping the planet, triggering the conditions that supported oxygen-rich oceans and the appearance of the first eukaryotes, the ancestors of all complex life.

Eukaryotes are organisms whose cells contain a defined nucleus alongside other membrane-bound structures, called organelles. All plants, animals and fungi are eukaryotes.

“Our work reveals that deep Earth processes, specifically the breakup of the ancient supercontinent Nuna, set off a chain of events that reduced volcanic carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions and expanded the shallow marine habitats where early eukaryotes evolved,” said Professor Dietmar Müller, from the EarthByte Group at the University of Sydney.

A dynamic Earth beneath a ‘boring’ surface

Between 1.8 and 0.8 billion years ago, Earth’s continents assembled and broke apart twice, first forming Nuna, then Rodinia. Using a new plate tectonic model covering 1.8 billion years of Earth’s history, the team reconstructed changes in plate boundaries, continental margins, and carbon exchange between the mantle, oceans, and atmosphere.

They discovered that as Nuna fragmented around 1.46 billion years ago, the total length of shallow continental shelves more than doubled to about 130,000 kilometres. These shallow-water environments likely hosted extensive oxygenated and temperate seas, providing long-lived, stable environments for complex life to flourish.

At the same time volcanic outgassing of CO2 decreased, while the storage of carbon in the ocean crust increased due to an expansion of mid-ocean ridge flanks. Here seawater seeps into cracks in the crust, is heated and the CO2 it contains is stripped out to produce limestone.

“This dual effect – reduced volcanic carbon release and enhanced geological carbon storage – cooled Earth’s climate and altered ocean chemistry, creating conditions suitable for the evolution of more complex life,” said co-author Associate Professor Adriana Dutkiewicz, also from the School of Geosciences at the University of Sydney.

From tectonics to life

The study’s results indicate that the appearance of the first fossil eukaryotes about 1.05 billion years ago coincided with continental dispersal and expanded shallow seas.

“We think these vast continental shelves and shallow seas were crucial ecological incubators,” said Associate Professor Juraj Farkaš from the University of Adelaide. “They provided tectonically and geochemically stable marine environments with presumably elevated levels of nutrients and oxygen, which in turn were critical for more complex lifeforms to evolve and diversify on our planet.”

The findings link deep-Earth dynamics with near-surface geochemical and biological evolution, offering a unifying framework that connects plate tectonics, the global carbon cycle, ocean chemistry and the emergence of complex life.

A new framework for Earth's evolution

This research represents the first time that deep-time plate tectonic reconstructions have been quantitatively linked to long-term carbon outgassing and biological milestones over nearly two billion years. The authors used computational models combining tectonic reconstructions with thermodynamic simulations of carbon storage and degassing through subduction, where one tectonic plate slides under another, and volcanism, which releases magma, ash and gases into the atmosphere and Earth’s surface.

DOWNLOAD a copy of the research and images of Professor Müller and Associate Professor Dutkiewicz at this link.

VIDEO of the tectonic plates moving from 1.8 billion years ago to present available here.

RESEARCH

Müller, R. D. et al ‘Mid-proterozoic expansion of passive margins and reduction in volcanic outgassing supported marine oxygenation and eukraryogenisis’ (Earth and Planetary Science Letters 2025) DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2025.119683

Workflow data and code are publicly available at this link.

DECLARATION

The researchers declare no competing interests. Funding was received from the Australian Research Council and AuScope NCRIS.

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Journal

Earth and Planetary Science Letters

DOI

10.1016/j.epsl.2025.119683 

Method of Research

Computational simulation/modeling

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Mid-proterozoic expansion of passive margins and reduction in volcanic outgassing supported marine oxygenation and eukraryogenisis’

Article Publication Date

27-Oct-2025

 

Health data for 57 million people in England show changing patterns of heart diseases before, during and after the pandemic

Health Data Research UK

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The electronic health record data analysed in this study is anonymised and never leaves a secure data environment, which is only accessible by approved researchers working on approved projects.

The study is published in The Lancet Public Health.

Co-author Professor William Whiteley, Associate Director at the BHF Data Science Centre, said:

“Our findings show that during the COVID-19 pandemic there were drops in the incidence of some cardiovascular disease, and that disparities in the burden of these conditions were borne unequally by England’s diverse population.

“But diagnosis rates of many conditions have since returned to pre-pandemic levels, and our insights could provide a foundation to push healthcare resources fairly to who and where they’re needed most. Detecting cases of cardiovascular disease in a targeted and timely way opens up more windows for us to intervene, saving and improving lives.” 

Co-author Professor Angela Wood, University of Cambridge and Associate Director at the BHF Data Science Centre, said:

“During the pandemic, we saw marked rises in the prevalence of conditions like ischemic stroke and heart failure. Although our study did not investigate reasons behind these trends, we believe these observations may reflect the direct effects of the COVID-19 virus, as well as the indirect effects of disruption to healthcare delivery and delayed care.

“Harnessing whole population data in a responsible, trustworthy, and secure manner can help us to pinpoint health inequalities, track changes over time, and influence policy decision making. Our findings could also inform preparation for future pandemics.”

Cardiovascular diseases remain a major public health challenge. The COVID-19 pandemic coincided with higher risks of cardiovascular complications among those with existing conditions, higher rates of new-onset cardiovascular disease, and disruption to routine care.

To gain a high-resolution and comprehensive picture, the research team used linked health data for more than 57 million people in England to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on 79 different cardiovascular conditions.

The data from hospital, primary care, death and specialist registries covered 1 January 2020 and 31 May 2024. All personal information that could identify individuals had been stripped away, and approved researchers accessed this data entirely within the NHS England Secure Data Environment (SDE), a secure data and analysis platform.

For each heart condition, they looked at the incidence (the rate of new diagnoses per 100,000 people), the prevalence (the percentage of people with both old and new diagnoses), the percentage of people who died from any cause within 30 days of a diagnosis, and the rate of heart attacks and strokes occurring between 30 days and one year after a diagnosis. They then estimated the changes in these rates before and after the COVID-19 pandemic, pinpointing whether age, sex, ethnicity, deprivation, area, and the number of long-term conditions people were living with had any effects.

The researchers found that the number of new diagnoses of heart conditions fell during the first COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. However, the people who received these diagnoses were more likely to die than at other times during 2020 to 2024. They believe this decrease is because healthcare services were under severe pressure and only the most seriously ill people were seeking care.

There was a lot of variation between ethnicities. People of Bangladeshi, Indian, and Pakistani ethnicities were more likely to be diagnosed with coronary vascular disease, while people of African, Caribbean, and other Black ethnicities were more likely to experience conditions related to high blood pressure. But diagnoses of these conditions tended to be less fatal than for the White British population.

Geographical location and deprivation also influenced the rates and numbers of cardiovascular diagnoses. For example, there was higher case fatality for heart attacks and stroke in the North, Midlands and parts of the South, as well as in coastal areas of the East.

Comparing before and after the pandemic, the researchers found that in 2024, the number of new cardiovascular diagnoses was up compared with before the pandemic. In particular, they saw increases in the incidence (26%, or from 5 to 6.4 per 100,000 people), prevalence (50%, or from 0.03% to 0.04%), and the risk of short-term death (from a rate of 8.5% to 17%) from inflammation of heart tissue, called myocarditis, as well as a 25% increase (from 0.9% to 1.2%) in the prevalence of heart failure.

However, the researchers believe these increases are in part due to healthcare services catching up in the wake of the pandemic, with more diagnoses now being possible as pressure eases and resources are less stretched, and as healthcare professionals get better at spotting symptoms.

The researchers have developed a dashboard to help researchers, policymakers, and the public to access and interpret their findings. This will be available on the BHF Data Science Centre’s website.

The researchers were able to carry out this study under measures put in place during the pandemic to enable COVID-19-related research. In their paper, they note that the approach could continue to provide detailed readouts of cardiovascular diagnoses and inform policymaking, research, and regional commissioning of care, if access to the linked data was possible for uses beyond COVID-19.

Principal author Dr Elias Allara at the University of Cambridge said:

“This study paints England’s burden of cardiovascular disease in unprecedented detail, and research like this is only possible at low cost by leveraging and linking health data on a whole population scale. By revealing where the biggest gaps are in cardiovascular diagnosis and care, our findings lay the groundwork for action to tackle these important inequalities.”

Read the full study.

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Journal

The Lancet Public Health

DOI

10.1016/S2468-2667(25)00163-X 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Burden of cardiovascular diseases in England (2020–24): a national cohort using electronic health records data

Article Publication Date

27-Oct-2025

COI Statement

CT previously received funding paid to University College London (UCL-GSK Phenomics Hub) from GlaxoSmithKline, outside the scope of the submitted work. JD serves in leadership or fiduciary roles, either paid or unpaid, in the following organisations: Cambridge University Hospital National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust, UK Biobank, Medical Research Council (MRC) International Advisory Group, MRC High Throughput Science Omics Panel, Scientific Advisory Committee for Sanofi, Wellcome Sanger Institute, and Novartis. KK received grants, contracts, consulting fees, or honoraria from the following organisations, outside the scope of the submitted work: Amgen, Applied Therapeutics, AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim, Lilly, MSD, Novo Nordisk, Sanofi, Servier, Oramed Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer, Roche, Daiichi-Sankyo, Embecta, and Nestle Health Science. All other authors declare no competing interests.