Most studies that look at chemicals in the environment focus on testing a single or just a few known chemicals at a time. However, we are exposed to many more unknown chemicals in our daily lives. Non-targeted analysis allows researchers to look at many chemicals all at once.
Non-targeted analysis is like taking a "snapshot" of all the different chemicals in a human blood sample without singling out any specific chemicals beforehand. It is similar to how a detective might scan a crime scene for clues without knowing exactly what they're searching for. This method helps scientists discover links between chemicals and health conditions, including breast cancer, even ones that they weren’t expecting.
This blog is the second in a series about a new study that looks at how a woman’s exposure to chemical mixtures may increase the risk of breast cancer (read the first article here.) The study also explores whether women from different economic backgrounds experience different levels of chemical exposure.
This is an excerpt of a longer post on the Zero Breast Cancer site describing a new UCSF study on chemical mixtures. Read the full post here.