*7.2.2.4 Breast cancer*

Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women. About 650 pesticides out of the 800 used worldwide can affect the functioning of the endocrine system and are called endocrine disrupting pesticides (EDPs). EDPs have the potential ability to act as tumor promoters and increasing risk of breast cancer. All women diagnosed with breast cancer between 1995 and 2005 in the city of Arica (geographic area that received massive aerial applications of malathion in 1980) were 5.7 times more likely to suffer from breast cancer compared to women diagnosed during the same period in the city of Iquique, Chile [14]. Several chemical classes of insecticides, fungicides and herbicides have been associated with breast cancer in women (**Table 3**).
