Hairdressers, beauticians, accountants may be at an increased risk of ovarian cancer

Women working as hairdressers, beauticians and accountants are being warned they may be at an increased risk of ovarian cancer. Here’s why.

Women working as hairdressers, beauticians, accountants or in retail may be at an increased risk of ovarian cancer, new research suggests.

In one of the first studies to evaluate ovarian cancer risk with the occupational hazards faced by women in their jobs, the lifetime work histories of almost 500 women who developed ovarian cancer were compared to a group who did not have the disease.

Led by academics at the University of Montreal in Canada, the study investigated 29 professions in the population-based study and found women working in clothing and construction may also be vulnerable to ovarian cancer, but nurses and teachers had a decreased risk.

Women working in hairdressing-related occupations are exposed to hundreds of chemicals at high concentrations.

Published in the BMJ’s Occupational & Environmental Medicine journal on Tuesday, the team wrote that long term exposure to particular agents including cosmetic talcum powder, ammonia, propellant gases, petrol, hydrogen peroxide and some bleaches may have an important role.

Sedentary behaviour may also contribute to ovarian cancer risk for women in some jobs such as accountancy, while exposure to synthetic and polyester fibres could also put those working for a decade or more in the clothing industry at increased risk.

The authors wrote that women working long term in hairdressing-related occupations were exposed to hundreds of chemicals at high concentrations, including hair dyes, shampoos, conditioners, styling and cosmetic products.

They said: “In our study, employment in hairdressing-related occupations and exposure to 12 agents prevalent in these occupations were suggestively associated with increased risks of ovarian cancer.”

The authors added it was not clear if these associations were to a single agent, a combination, or other workplace factors.

Ovarian cancer is one of the deadliest tumour types that starts in one or both ovaries. It claims the lives of around 1000 Australian women a year and typically just 29 per cent of women with the cancer are alive five years after their diagnosis.

It is a difficult cancer to diagnose at an early stage because symptoms can be vague, there is no screening, the causes remain poorly understood and few risk factors have been identified.

Sedentary behaviour may also contribute to ovarian cancer risk for women in some jobs such as accountancy.

The study involved 491 Canadian women aged 18 to 79 with ovarian cancer.

Their data was compared with 897 women without disease who were all part of the PRevention of OVArian Cancer in Quebec (PROVAQ) study.

The authors said more of the women with ovarian cancer had lower educational attainment, shorter oral contraceptive use and either no or fewer children than women in the comparison group, which are all potential risk factors for the disease.

Led by Dr Anita Koushik from the University of Montreal’s Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, the study looked at which jobs and their environmental exposure may increase ovarian cancer risk for women.

Reporting the results in the journal, the researchers said because of the small numbers they were not able to assess risks in certain jobs and industries including paper, printing, textile production, dry cleaning and manufacturing.

They also were not able to drill down to risks from specific agents, such as asbestos and pesticides that have previously been reported as potential ovarian cancer risk factors.

They said the study was exploratory and any inferences from the results were limited, adding further population-based research was needed to evaluate possible hazards for female workers and occupations commonly held by women.

The researchers have called for a larger study to examine the links between ovarian cancer risk and occupations.