Air pollution has previously been linked with several types of cancer, including breast, liver, and lung cancer. But what about mouth cancer? A new study by researchers in Taiwan mined national cancer, health, insurance, and air quality databases to find out if air pollutants might have a role in the development of mouth cancer.

In 2012-13, the researchers checked the health records of 482,659 men aged 40 and older who had attended preventive health services, and had provided information on smoking/betel quid chewing. Diagnoses of mouth cancer were then linked to local area readings for air pollutants taken in 2009. Smoking and frequent betel quid chewing were significantly associated with heightened risk of a diagnosis. After taking account of potentially influential factors like smoking, increased levels of PM2.5 (fine particulate matter) were associated with an increased risk of mouth cancer.

The study however, is not without limitations. For one, it is does not consider the men’s previous exposure to air pollution over their lifetime – which may have been higher or lower than their recent exposure. In a October 9th, 2018 article published in The Guardian, Dr. Frank Kelly, Professor of Environmental Health at King’s College London, notes that next a beneficial step would be to conduct similar research in different countries to better account for varying levels of tobacco consumption.

Study Reference

Yu-Hua Chu, Syuan-Wei Kao, Disline Manli Tantoh, Pei-Chieh Ko, Shou-Jen Lan, Yung-Po Liaw. Association between fine particulate matter and oral cancer among Taiwanese men. Journal of Investigative Medicine, 2018; jim-2016-000263 DOI: 10.1136/jim-2016-000263