You may want to rethink moving to a green neighbourhood as a recent study has linked poor environmental quality to elevated cancer rates. The study revealed an association between cumulative exposure to harmful environmental factors and cancer incidence across the US, with prostate and breast cancer especially demonstrating strong links with poor environmental quality, the findings may help to reduce the burden of cancer by allowing officials to identify vulnerable communities in need of attention.
To investigate the effects of overall environmental quality across multiple domains, including air, water and land quality; sociodemographic environment; and built environment, Jyotsna S Jagai of the University of Illinois, Chicago and her colleagues linked the Environmental Quality Index, a county-level measure of cumulative environmental exposures, with cancer incidence rates from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program State Cancer Profiles.
The average annual county-level age-adjusted incidence rate for all types of cancer was 451 cases per 1 lakh people. Counties with poor environmental quality demonstrated a higher incidence of cancer cases, on average 39 more per 1 lakh, than counties with high environmental quality over the study period. Increased rates were seen for both males and females and prostate and breast cancer demonstrated the strongest positive associations with poor environmental quality.