Bleach and Cancer

[mnmjenn]

I was thinking over the problem of mammary tumors in female rats the other day. We have 2 girlies, and are getting a couple more. They are still young and are not showing any signs of health problems, but I hate to think about them developing cancers and respiratory problems.
I heard that there may be a link between chlorine bleach and other household chemicals (esp laundry) and breast cancer. This made me think of the think of this problem in rats. I've read lots of different threads on here relating to quarantining, disinfecting, etc that mention bleach and I wanted to mention this. I am just wondering if we decrease our household exposure to bleach (and thus the rats' exposure), would we see a decrease in tumors? Maybe this is wishful thinking.

I did a google search just to see what I could find. These are a few articles that mention different health effects for humans, and I thought could possibly be looked at in light of our rats, too.

http://www.farmersalmanac.com/blog/2008 ... hild-sick/

http://www.eatechs.com/?page_id=871

this article was specifically on bleaching of tea bags, but I found the general info they gave interesting:
http://www.healthhype.com/bleach-in-tea ... risks.html

Our family orders cleaning products that are plant-derived and do not use chlorine bleach. The disinfectant is thyme-based and is hospital grade. (We also have a water filter on our pipes since we have town water... :thumbdwn: ) We've noticed at significant difference in our family's health, and I'm anxious to see if this makes a difference in the health and life-span of our rats, too.

I'm not a scientist and I'm not making any claims. Just wondering "out loud." :wink2:

 

[jorats]

The thing is, benign mammary tumours in rats are not the same as breast cancer in women. The mammary tumour in rats is directly related to estrogen, which is why a spay reduces the risk of mammary tumours from 90% to 5%.
I hardly ever use bleach, I hate the stuff, it's so harsh...

 

[mnmjenn]

Good to know! Thanks!!
Now I wish spaying wasn't so darn expensive!!!!!! :undecided:

 

[jorats]

You and me both.

 

[ryelle]

I dont use bleach or household designed cleaners on my animals cages. I know, that if you get bleach on your hands, it makes your hands smell really bad for hours, no matter how many times you wash them. So i assume it would do the same to pretty much any surface it comes in to contact with (i know skin is different to say plastic). I normally use disinfectant thats specifically made for animal use (still well rinsed after and towel dried - towel then gets thrown in the washing machine), things mothers can buy to sterilise their babys bottles etc. or just ordinary washing up liquid and some hot water.

i sometimes say "i need to bleach them down" but i just mean a good ole' scrub