GENETIC faults that might be caused by air pollution or certain foods have been found in the lungs of non-smoking cancer victims, according to a Hong Kong study.
The work supports suggestions that lung cancer in non-smokers may be caused by certain foods, particularly preserved or pickled foods, or breathing cancer-causing substances pumped out by vehicle exhausts, says Hong Kong University researcher Dr Linda Koo Chih-ling.
The studies are the next step in Dr Koo's research following findings of a survey reported last year.
Dr Koo found then that of 200 women interviewed with lung cancer, nearly 140 cases were not attributable to direct or passive smoking. But the women ate many pickled foods, preservatives and meat which in the gut produced harmful nitrosamines, known to cause cancer in animals.
The effects of the chemical could be neutralised by vitamin C, Dr Koo said.
The same findings could be reproduced among Chinese in Hawaii because their diet was the same, she said.