A multi-year study of elevated breast cancer rates in several communities of Long Island, New York found no environmental factors contributing to the spike.

New York State Health Commissioner Antonia Novello said on Friday that she hopes the study "will ease concern among residents in Suffolk County about breast cancer and the local environment."

One breast cancer advocate immediately criticized the findings.

Karen Joy Miller, of the Huntington Breast Cancer Action Coalition, said genetics alone does not cause diseases, calling the commissioner's remarks that there are no environmental causes "totally ridiculous."

The study tried to identify unusual environmental factors to explain elevated breast cancer rates, sometimes as high as 50 percent above average, between 1993 and 1997 in a number of communities on the north shore of Long Island in eastern Suffolk County.

Researchers met with residents to learn about possible environmental exposures and then obtained data from state and local agencies. The study found the higher than expected breast cancer rate was not significantly different after risk factors about age, race, income and educational level were considered.

Also, the study found that the levels of contaminants and other possible environmental exposures in the area were similar to, or lower than, the rest of the state for the majority of those evaluated.

Source: Xinhua