Arsenic in drinking water and breast cancer: a case-control study from a high exposure area in Northern Chile

Exposure to arsenic in drinking water is a cause of lung, bladder, and skin cancer, however the relation between arsenic and breast cancer is unclear. Northern Chile had high levels of arsenic in drinking water (up to 900 µg/l) between 1950 and 1970, facilitating the study of outcomes with long latency. We conducted a breast cancer case-control study in Northern Chile (2014-2018) and analyzed 505 incident breast cancer cases and 409 population-based female controls with data collected on lifetime exposure to arsenic and potential confounders.

We identified cases in collaboration with cancer committees, hospitals, and medical facilities in the study area. Controls were recruited from the Chile Voter Registry. Logistic regression was used to assess the relationship between arsenic exposure and breast cancer adjusting for education and age. We evaluated cumulative, lifetime average and highest single year exposure with tertiles and quartiles and population weighted controls based on age and region of residence.

Exposure levels were high in both cases and controls, with median (interquartile range) values of: 52 (15-84) and 42 (10-106) μg/L for average lifetime concentration, respectively. Adjusted odds ratios (OR) for tertile of cumulative exposure to arsenic concentrations in water (< 1.17, 1.17-5.16, and ≥ 5.17 mg) were 1.00, 0.85 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.60-1.18], and 1.10 (0.79-1.55). Results were similar for lifetime average and single-highest year exposure metrics.

We did not find evidence of increased odds of higher arsenic exposure among incident breast cancer cases compared to female population controls.