How Reducing Reliance On Fossil Fuels May Also Combat Breast Cancer

AUSTIN, TEXAS – JULY 30: Vehicles travel along Interstate 35 on July 30, 2025 in Austin, Texas. Under the Trump administration, the EPA is seeking to repeal past findings that greenhouse gas emissions pose a threat to public health. The action is in part to the Trump administration’s broader plan to expand oil, natural gas and coal production. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

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Every October in the United States we are flooded with pink ribbons and merchandise claiming to be for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. We are reminded that 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed in their lifetime. One year ago, at the age of 36 – well before screening mammograms are recommended– I became one of them.

My diagnosis has given me a renewed interest in the links between public health and emissions from energy and transportation. This Breast Cancer Awareness Month I want to highlight the often overlooked connection between pollution from the oil and gas industry for our energy system and the alarming rise in breast cancer rates, particularly among young women.

Breast cancer rates are rising, especially in women under 50 where rates have increased 1.4% per year. Researchers don’t know exactly why, but there is growing evidence from the National Institutes of Health showing links to environmental pollution. Lifetime exposure to air pollution significantly increases risk of developing breast cancer, with women living in areas with high pollution having an 8% increase in risk, according to research by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Breast cancer is deadlier for young women and is the leading cause of death for U.S. women between ages 20-49, according to the American Cancer Society, yet discussions around prevention rarely include reducing pollution.

Fossil fuel combustion from power plants, vehicles, or industrial processes, produces more than just CO₂ emissions. Burning fuel sources like coal, oil, and natural gas contain impurities and the reaction of those impurities during incomplete combustion or with the atmosphere result in chemicals like sulfur dioxide, NOx, benzene, and particulate matter (PM_2.5 and PM₁₀). These pollutants are known carcinogens that have been shown to be hazardous to breathe in and result in many public health issues like asthma, cancer, and birth defects. This is especially true for chemicals associated with transportation pollution mainly from diesel and gasoline combustion.

People living near power plans, highways, and industrial processing facilities are more likely to develop breast cancer and other chronic health conditions according to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. These negative health impacts disproportionately affect disadvantaged communities and communities of color – communities that already face disproportionate health impacts like asthma, birth defects, heart disease, and other pollution related illnesses. Adding breast cancer risk further underscores how environmental justice is also a women’s health issue.

Despite growing evidence, we find ourselves in a time when decades old regulations are being undone at the federal level. The Trump administration is rolling back efficiency standards, compliance standards for power plants, and vehicle emissions standards. The Department of Energy is rescinding grants for new clean energy projects, some that have already begun construction. NIH research funding for investigating the environmental connections between cancer and pollution has been cut. Our elected officials at the federal and state levels have yet to clarify how they will continue regulatory standards to reduce carcinogens from entering the air we breathe, and continue funding research to understand the risks and solutions to exposure to carcinogens from fossil fuel combustion.

Conversations around clean energy are often centered around carbon emissions and climate change, for good reason. But the health benefits of transitioning away from the combustion of fossil fuels to clean energy sources like solar, wind, geothermal, hydrogen fuel cells, and even cleaner-burning biofuels have massive potential public health benefits. Electrification of transportation, clean power sources, renewables, and improving efficiency don’t just cut carbon emissions; they save lives by reducing exposure to carcinogens. Likewise, breast cancer prevention is often focused on reducing individual risk with early screening and awareness. Still, it must also address the environmental risks from pollution that are putting women in danger.

My experience with breast cancer has renewed my sense of purpose with a career in clean energy and added motivation. We have an obligation to clean up the atmosphere, not just to avoid the worst impacts from climate change, but because people are already getting sick from breathing the air. Every clean energy advancement is also an advancement for breast cancer prevention. We must prioritize it as such. This October, let’s expand “breast cancer awareness” to include improving the quality of the air we breathe.