Empowher Asks:
What toxins or chemicals cause leukemia?
Dr. Marianne Marchese: So leukemia is actually very well studied in terms of environmental toxins. We know that women who are pregnant and spray pesticides around their home, their offspring have higher rates of leukemia. We know that children who grow up within 31 miles of nuclear power plants have higher rates of leukemia, both as children and as adults.
There are a few pesticides that are directly linked with leukemia. One is lindane and lindane is often used to treat lice. So it’s a very commonly applied insecticide to children when they have lice, and then those children can either get childhood or adult leukemia.
So this area is very well studied, and we have some very clear toxic exposure risks for leukemia. And then also, hair dyes, especially black hair dye is directly linked with leukemia. So that’s an area women really want to be aware of.