Organophosphate Pesticide Exposure and Breast Cancer Risk: A Rapid Review of Human, Animal, and Cell-Based Studies

Background: Organophosphate pesticides (OPs) are one of the most commonly used classes of insecticides in the U.S., and metabolites of OPs have been detected in the urine of >75% of the U.S.

Population: While studies have shown that OP exposure is associated with risk of neurological diseases and some cancers, the relationship between OP exposure and breast cancer risk is not well understood.

Methods: The aim of this rapid review was to systematically evaluate published literature on the relationship between OP exposure and breast cancer risk, including both epidemiologic and laboratory studies. Twenty-seven full-text articles were reviewed by searching on Pubmed, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases.

Results: Some human studies showed that malathion, terbufos, and chlorpyrifos were positively associated with human breast cancer risk, and some laboratory studies demonstrated that malathion and chlorpyrifos have estrogenic potential and other cancer-promoting properties. However, the human studies were limited in number, mostly included agricultural settings in several geographical areas in the U.S., and did not address cumulative exposure.

Conclusions: Given the mixed results found in both human and laboratory studies, more research is needed to further examine the relationship between OP exposure and breast cancer risk, especially in humans in non-agricultural settings.