 exposure to pesticides , dyes , and pollutants that mimic the growth promoting effects of estrogen may cause breast cancer . 
 the pesticide ddt and the food colorant red no . 
 3 were found to increase the growth of htb 133 but not estrogen receptor ( er ) negative human breast cells ( htb 125 ) or rat liver epithelial cells ( rle ) . 
 red no . 
 3 , beta - estradiol , and ddt increase er site - specific dna binding to the estrogen response element in htb 133 cells and increase cyclin - dependent kinase 2 activity in mcf-7 breast cancer cells . 
 site - specific dna binding by p53 in rle , htb 125 , htb 133 , and mcf-7 cells was increased when they were treated with red no . 
 3 , which suggests that cellular dna was damaged by this colorant . red no . 
 3 increased binding of the er from mcf-7 cells to the estrogen - responsive element . consumption of red no . 
 3 , which has estrogenlike growth stimulatory properties and may be genotoxic , could be a significant risk factor in human breast carcinogenesis.imagesfigure 4 . 
 afigure 4 . 
 bfigure 5 . 
 afigure 5 . 
 bfigure 6.figure 7 . 
 afigure 7 . 
 bfigure 7 . 
 c 
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