One common working habit has been consistently associated with cancer and is classified by the World Health Organisation as a "possible carcinogenic."
Night shift work, or work during the hours people would usually be sleeping, has been classified as a "possible carcinogenic" by the World Health Organisation. The classification was given after multiple studies over a number of years consistently associating the disruption of sleeping patterns with cancer.
One report published in 2019 by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a part of the World Health Organisation, concluded that night shift work is "probably carcinogenic to humans." The reason given was that night shift work disturbs the body's 24-hour circadian (or daily) rhythms, responsible for our sleep-wake cycle among other bodily functions.
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It is not known to what extent the disruption of circadian rhythms can lead to cancer. However, it was been suggested that disturbing regular sleep rhythms can prevent the proper production of melatonin, a hormone long associated with the sleep-wake cycle of humans which is believed to help prevent the cell damage that causes cancer.
The report classified night shift work a "Group 2A" carcinogen, meaning that there is "limited" evidence of it being a carcinogenic in humans and "sufficient" evidence of it being a carcinogen in animals used in experiments. By "limited" evidence they mean that links or "associations" have been made between night shift work and cancer, but other explanations (such as chance) could not be ruled out.
The World Health Organisation has not associated a risk level to the potential hazard, though they did say for anyone worried about night shifts affecting their health should contact their GP.
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