"More Dangerous Than Aspartame"... Cancer Incidence Jumps 27% Upon Exposure to 'This'

In January, a night shift worker who started at a logistics camp passed away. A police officer who worked two consecutive night shifts last year was found dead while sleeping at home.

According to the medical community on the 15th, in 2007, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) under the World Health Organization (WHO) classified night shift work as Group 2A (probably carcinogenic to humans), warning of its risks. Night shift work was designated as one of the Group 2A carcinogens, which includes substances like pesticides, indicating that it is "probably carcinogenic to humans."

(This photo is not directly related to the article) [Photo by Asia Economy DB]

Group 2A mainly refers to substances whose harmfulness has been proven in animal experiments and is one level higher than aspartame (Group 2B, possibly carcinogenic), which was recently classified as a carcinogen.

There are numerous studies mentioning the risks associated with night shift work. Dr. Parveen Bhatti from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in the United States published research in 2017 showing that night shift work reduces the ability to repair damaged DNA.

At that time, Dr. Bhatti stated, “Shift work exposes individuals to complex exposures,” adding, “At night, they are exposed to light, suffer from sleep disturbances, and must follow various types of shift schedules.” In the paper, he noted that “shift workers had fewer DNA lesions repaired during night shifts compared to periods when they slept at night.” Lesions refer to biological changes caused by disease.

This study was noted for supporting previous research and WHO announcements indicating that night shift work may increase cancer risk.

Researchers from Huazhong University in China also published findings in the journal Annals of Medicine showing that men who worked night shifts for over 20 years had about a 27% higher cancer incidence compared to those who had sufficient sleep.

The researchers conducted experiments on over 27,000 retired male workers from the Chinese automobile company Dongfeng. They found that individuals who did not take naps of 30 minutes to 1 hour, worked night shifts for over 20 years, or slept more than 10 hours at night had higher cancer incidence rates. Among them, those with two or more of these habits simultaneously had cancer incidence rates increased by up to 43%.

Domestic research teams have also produced results proving the harmfulness of overnight work. A research team from the Department of Family Medicine at Dongguk University College of Medicine measured blood pressure during work and sleep times according to day and night shift schedules in 23 nurses working three shifts. The results concluded that “night shift work can act as a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases in the future.”

The Occupational and Environmental Medicine research team at Hwasun Chonnam National University Hospital analyzed heart images of workers who had long-term night shift work and found that they had a higher risk of arteriosclerosis compared to daytime workers.