Kids Far More Vulnerable to Cancer-Causing Chemical in Water & Drugs, Study Finds

A terrifying new study suggests a dramatically increased childhood cancer risk for young people exposed to common carcinogens. These chemicals are found in contaminated water and some medications. Researchers at MIT found that juvenile exposure to NDMA led to much higher rates of DNA damage and cancer compared to adults.

A Hidden Danger for Young Lives

The findings could help explain a worrying link. This link is between childhood cancer and prenatal exposure to NDMA. It was observed near a contaminated site in Wilmington, Massachusetts. There, 22 children were diagnosed with cancer between 1990 and 2000. Contaminated wells were later closed in 2003.

NDMA (N-Nitrosodimethylamine) is a byproduct of many industrial processes. It is also found in cigarette smoke and processed meats. Worryingly, NDMA has also appeared in medications like valsartan, ranitidine, and metformin.

Bevin Engelward is an MIT professor of biological engineering and a senior author of the study. She stressed the importance of early detection. She said: “As a solution to cancer, cancer prevention is clearly much better than cancer treatment, so we hope we can spot dangerous chemicals before people are exposed, and therefore prevent extensive cancer risk.”

Why are children more affected?

Most safety tests for potential carcinogens are performed on older mice. This new study looked at both 3-week-old juvenile mice and 6-month-old adults. Both groups were given low levels of NDMA in drinking water for two weeks.

Inside the body, NDMA is metabolised in the liver. This produces toxic metabolites that damage DNA. This damage is known as adducts. Both groups showed similar initial damage. However, the consequences were vastly different.

Juvenile mice developed significant double-stranded DNA breaks and mutations. These eventually led to liver cancer. Adult mice showed almost no double-stranded breaks and far fewer mutations. They did not develop severe liver pathology or tumours.

Professor Engelward explained: “The initial structural changes to the DNA had very different consequences depending on age. The double-stranded breaks were exclusively observed in the young.”

The key difference lies in cell proliferation rates. Cells in the juvenile liver divide rapidly. This gives damaged DNA more chances to turn into mutations. Adult liver cells, by contrast, rarely divide.

Lead author Lindsay Volk added: “With toxicological studies, oftentimes the standard is to use fully grown mice. At that point, they’re already slowing down cell division, so if we are testing the harmful effects of NDMA in adult mice, then we’re completely missing how vulnerable particular groups are, such as younger animals.”

Adults Not Immune

While the study highlights a greater risk for the young, adults are not entirely safe. Researchers found that stimulating liver cell proliferation in adult mice also made them accumulate mutations quickly. This was achieved, for example, with thyroid hormone.

Factors like inflammation or a high-fat diet can also stimulate cell proliferation. This suggests that anything causing liver inflammation could make an adult liver more vulnerable to NDMA damage.

Ms Volk warned: “Everything impacts your susceptibility to a carcinogen, whether that’s your genetics, your age, your diet, and so forth. In adults, if they have a viral infection, or a high fat diet, or chronic binge alcohol drinking, this can impact proliferation within the liver and potentially make them susceptible to NDMA.”

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