Pesticides and Breast Cancer Connection by Jeffrey Dach MD

Dicamba is a pesticide recently given FDA approval in the US. In the European Union, dicamba is categorized as a suspected endocrine disruptor (Category II), indicating potential to interfere with hormone systems. The mechanism involves disruption of sex steroid hormone biosynthesis and signaling pathways, with estrogenic/ anti-androgenic activity. This is a bad combination known to increase breast cancer risk. For example the synthetic progestin Norethisterone is an anti-androgen that doubles breast cancer risk according to Agnes Fourier in the French Cohort study.

Header Image Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. Pesticide spraying in cultivation in Andhra Pradesh November 2025 Author PJeganathan CC 4.0

1970’s Breast Cancer Linked to Pesticide Use in Israel

In 1970’s in Israel high pesticide residues in milk were linked to unusually high breast cancer rates. In 1978 organochemical pesticides, Lindane and DDT and BHC were banned in Israel, leading to a 30 percent decline in mortality from breast cancer in premenopausal women (under 45) from 1976 to 1986. For more see:

Westin, J. B., & Richter, E. (1990). The Israeli breast-cancer anomaly. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 609(1), 269–279. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749
-6632.1990.tb32073.x

Summary: This paper analyzes an anomalous decline in breast cancer mortality in Israel between 1976 and 1986, during which time rates dropped by approximately 8% overall and up to 30% in women under 44 years old, while rising in most other countries. The authors link this reduction to the 1978 ban on three organochlorine pesticides—DDT, alpha-benzene hexachloride (α-BHC), and gamma-benzene hexachloride (lindane)—used in agriculture and cowsheds. Prior to the ban, Israel had some of the world’s highest levels of these endocrine-disrupting chemicals in cow’s milk (5–100 times higher than in the U.S.) and human breast milk. Following the ban, pesticide levels in milk dropped by up to 98% by 1980. The paper argues that this rapid decline in exposure to these complete carcinogens (which both initiate and promote tumors) caused the observed reduction in breast cancer rates, despite other risk factors (e.g., diet, alcohol consumption, delayed childbearing) moving in directions that should have increased rates.

Davis, D. L., Bradlow, H. L., Wolff, M., Woodruff, T., Hoel, D. G., & Anton-Culver, H. (1993). Medical hypothesis: xenoestrogens as preventable causes of breast cancer. Environmental Health Perspectives, 101(5), 372–377. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.93
101372

Summary: This influential paper hypothesizes that xenoestrogens—synthetic estrogen-mimicking compounds, including organochlorine pesticides like DDT and other agricultural chemicals—are preventable causes of breast cancer through endocrine disruption. As supporting evidence, the authors highlight the Israeli case, where breast cancer mortality fell by 30% in premenopausal women (under 45) from 1976 to 1986, shortly after the 1978 ban on DDT, lindane, and BHC. This decline occurred despite rising conventional risk factors and coincided with a dramatic reduction in pesticide residues in dairy products and human tissue. The paper concludes that reducing exposure to these endocrine disruptors can lower breast cancer risk, calling for further research and regulatory action to limit such chemicals.

Epstein, S. S. (1994). Environmental and occupational pollutants are avoidable causes of breast cancer. International Journal of Health Services, 24(1), 145–150. https://doi.org/10.2190/5GM4-H
W92-QE9K-RK37

Summary: This paper argues that exposures to environmental and occupational carcinogens, including endocrine-disrupting pesticides, are major avoidable contributors to rising breast cancer incidence. It cites the Israeli experience as compelling evidence: following the 1978 ban on organochlorine pesticides (DDT, lindane, and BHC) due to high contamination in milk, breast cancer mortality rates dropped sharply by about 30% in younger women (under 44) from 1976 to 1986, bucking international trends. The author attributes this to the rapid decrease in body burdens of these persistent chemicals, which act as xenoestrogens promoting mammary carcinogenesis. The paper advocates for stricter regulations and prevention strategies to reduce such exposures and prevent breast cancer.

Jeffrey Dach MD
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Published on February 10th, 2026 by Jeffrey Dach MD