Toxic Effluents, Water Pollution Linked To High Cancer Rates In Jaipur Women: Study (Photo @Pixabay)

Jaipur, Rajasthan: Amid an unusual trend of proportionately high cancer cases among women from the Sanganer area in Rajasthan’s Jaipur, an analysis of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-coded information has found that the surface water bodies in Sanganer town have a high pollution level with the toxic effluents.

A total of 14,512 consecutive cancer patients were reported from all over Rajasthan between 2020 and 2024. The study examined the cancer data of 23 patients from Sanganer during the mentioned period, given the fact that several toxic chemicals in the effluent are known to contain probable carcinogens.

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Sanganer is a city that is famous for the textile industry, including the Sanganeri hand block printing, and the toxic effluents coming from the textile and other units allegedly raise contamination levels in the surface water bodies in the city, The Hindu reported, citing sources. Notably, the highly polluted water is being used widely for irrigation, including for edible plants such as vegetables in the region.

According to S.G. Kabra, a Medical activist and Director (Clinical) at Bhagwan Mahaveer Cancer Hospital, the main five cancers reported from Rajasthan were of lip, oral cavity and pharynx (31.55%), digestive organs (14.90%), breasts (12.17%), respiratory and intrathoracic Organs (11%) and female genital organs (8.19%). The sex ratio was 1.5 male to 1 female. However, there were 15 females and 8 males out of the total 23 patients from Sanganer, showing the disease affecting proportionately higher cases among the female population in the area, the report said.

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As per the activist, the data from Sanganer was opposite to the sex ratio of cancer cases from all over Rajasthan. She pointed out that the contaminants contained known hormone disrupters and that there were more hormone-sensitive organs and tissues in the reproductive age group of women. She infers that this could be the reason for the high proportion of incidents of female cancer in Sanganer, given the purported influence of contaminating carcinogens having an impact on the population in the region.