Cancer polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

A large number of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are known Many have been synthesized m the laboratory and several of the others are products of com bustion Benzo[a]pyrene for example is present m tobacco smoke contaminates food cooked on barbecue grills and collects m the soot of chimneys Benzo[a]pyrene is a carcinogen (a cancer causing substance) It is converted m the liver to an epoxy diol that can induce mutations leading to the uncontrolled growth of certain cells... 

Carcinogens Cancer-producing agents Skin Respiratory Bladder/urinary tract Liver Nasal Bone marrow Coal tar pitch dust crude anthracene dust mineral oil mist arsenic. Asbestos polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons nickel ore arsenic bis-(chloromethyl) ether mustard gas. p-naphthylamine benzidine 4-am i nodi pheny lam ine. Vinyl chloride monomer. Mustard gas nickel ore. Benzene. 

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons have been classified as human carcinogens because they induce cancers in experimental animals and because smoking and exposure to mixtures of chemicals containing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the workplace increase the risk of lung cancer in exposed individuals. In experimental animals, benzo(a)pyrene induces cancer in different organs depending on the route of administration.Furthermore, exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons commonly occurs in occupations related to traffic (use of diesel engines in transportation and railways). 

Conney, A.H. (1982). Induction of Microsomal-Enzymes by Foreign Chemicals and Carcinogenesis by Polycyclic Aromatic-Hydrocarbons—Clowes, G.H.A. Memorial Lecture. Cancer Research 42, 4875 917. 

IARC, International Agency for Research on Cancer (2010) IARC monographs on the evaluation of carcinogenic risks to humans, vol 92. Some non-heterocyclic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and some related exposures. http //monographs.iarc.lr/ENG/Monographs/vol92... 

Man has served as the unintentional guinea pig for the identification of some major classes of carcinogens. These include the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), or polyarenes, which have been identified as the active components of soot, which was recognized by the London surgeon Percivall Pott two centuries ago as responsible for cancer of the scrotum in chimney sweeps. Subsequently, polycyclic hydrocarbons have been implicated as agents responsible for skin cancer in other occupations such as shale oil distillation and mule spinning in the cotton industry. 

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are widespread environmental contaminants and one of the most potent classes of carcinogenic chemicals. They are byproducts of combustion, and significant levels are produced in automobile exhaust, refuse burning, smoke stack effluents, and tobacco smoke. It is strongly suspected that PAH may play an important role in human cancer. 

Monograph on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks of the Chemical to Man Certain Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Heterocyclic Compounds", Internat. Agency Res. Cancer, World Health Organization, 1973 Vol. 3. 

Oxidation is intimately linked to the activation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) to carcinogens (1-3). Oxidation of PAH in animals and man is enzyme-catalyzed and is a response to the introduction of foreign compounds into the cellular environment. The most intensively studied enzyme of PAH oxidation is cytochrome P-450, which is a mixed-function oxidase that receives its electrons from NADPH via a one or two component electron transport chain (10. Some forms of this enzyme play a major role in systemic metabolism of PAH (4 ). However, there are numerous examples of carcinogens that require metabolic activation, including PAH, that induce cancer in tissues with low mixed-function oxidase activity ( 5). In order to comprehensively evaluate the metabolic activation of PAH, one must consider all cellular pathways for their oxidative activation. 

Wattenberg LW and Loub WD. 1978. Inhibition of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-induced neoplasia by naturally occurring indoles. Cancer Res 38 1410-1413. 

Anderson, R.S., J.E. Doos, and F.L. Rose. 1982. Differential ability of Ambystoma tigrinum hepatic microsomes to produce mutagenic metabolites from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and aromatic amines. Cancer Lett. 16 33-41. 

DiGiovanni, J. and T.J. Slaga. 1981b. Modification of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon carcinogenesis. Pages 259-292 in H.V. Gelboin and P.O. Ts o (eds.). Polycyclic Hydrocarbons and Cancer. Vol. 3. Academic Press, New York. 

Grimmer, G., H. Brune, R. Deutsch-Wenzel, G. Dettbam, J. Misfeld, U. Able, and J. Timm. 1985. The contribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon fractions with different boiling ranges to the carcinogenic impact of emission condensate from coal fired residential furnaces as evaluated by topical application to the skin of mice. Cancer Lett. 28 203-211. 

Neff, J.M. 1982b. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the aquatic environment and cancer risk to aquatic organisms and man. Pages 385-409 in N.L Richards and B.L. Jackson (eds.). Symposium Carcinogenic Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons in the Marine Environment. U.S. Environ. Protection Agency Rep. 600/9-82-013. 

Certain Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Heterocyclic Compounds, International Agency for Research on Cancer Monographs on the Evaluation of the Carcinogenic Risks to Humans LARC Lyon, France, 1972 Vol. 3. 

Kaden DA, Hites RA, Thilly WG. 1979. Mutagenicity of soot and associated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons to Salmonella typhimurium. Cancer Res 39 4152-4159. 

Perera FP, Hemminki K, Young TL, et ah Detection of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-DNA adducts in white blood cells of foundry workers. Cancer Res 48 2288-91, 1988... 

In the 1930s, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon was isolated from coal tar and demonstrated to be carcinogenic. Despite this evidence, millions of people continue to expose themselves to the soot from tobacco and suffer from the resulting lung cancer. 

In 1775, Pursevil Pott first noted that the compounds associated with soot caused scrotal cancer in British chimney sweeps (] ). Not having modern methods of Instrumental analysis available to him, Pott was unable to specify the chemical structures of these compounds. It remained until 1933 before Cook et al. identified the exact structure of benzo[a]pyrene and demonstrated its carcinogenicity ( ). Thus, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are one of the few groups of compounds which are known to be carcinogenic to man. 

K. -W. Naujack, U. Mohr, and H. Ernst, Contribution of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Nitro-Derivatives to the Carcinogenic Impact of Diesel Engine Exhaust Condensate Evaluated by Implantation into the Lungs of Rats, Cancer Lett., 37, 173-180 0 987). 

Kaden, D. A., R. A. Hites, and W. G. Thilly, Mutagenicity of Soot and Associated Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons to Salmonella typhimurium, Cancer Res., 39, 4152-4159 (1979). 

Mastrangelo, G., E. Fadda, and V. Marzia, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Cancer in Man, Environ. Health Perspect., 104, 1166-1170 (1996). 

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