The Breast Implant Risk

From The Scientist: http://the-scientist.com/2012/01/26/dont-beat-your-breast-implant/

Breast implants leaking contaminated silicone are causing a fuss in Europe, but all breast implants carry risks.

By Hannah Waters

January 26, 2012

The current breast implant scandal in Europe has nothing to do with celebrity news. On December 23, the French Agency for the Safety of Health Products recommended that more than 30,000 French women with silicone-filled breast implants made by the medical device company Poly Implant Prothese have them removed because more than 10 percent ruptured within a year of surgery, releasing the implants’ contents into the body.

To make matters worse, these particular implants are filled with industrial-grade silicone, instead of medical-grade, which could contain unregulated and dangerous chemicals.

“They used industrial grade silicone; I cannot believe this,” said polymer chemist Judit Puskas from the University of Akron, who is developing new implant materials. “You have all kinds of additives in there that are carcinogenic.”

Breast implants are composed of a silicone sac that contains silicone or saline gel, and the silicone sacs of the PIP implants are weaker than normal, leading to rupture. In this case, the implants were filled with silicone that has not passed regulatory approval and was intended to waterproof bricks: not exactly a material doctors want circulating in women’s bodies.

After an implant ruptures, the silicone filling slowly seeps into the body’s tissues, bloodstream, and lymphatic system. The French health agency has confirmed that the leaked silicone from PIP implants causes generalized pain and irritation, and that the material can be identified in lymph nodes with an ultrasound. Fortunately, preliminary animal studies showed no evidence of higher DNA mutation rates as a result of rupture.

Continue reading at: http://the-scientist.com/2012/01/26/dont-beat-your-breast-implant/