Known to Cause Cancer in Humans

Coke oven emissions Diethylstilbestrol (DES) Direct black 38 Direct blue Direct brown 95 Hexavalent chromium Nickel Radon 

Naturally occurs in some types of rock, insulation 

Synthesis of over 300 dyes in leather, paper, and textiles 

Natural element of rock, pigments, and dyes Natural element of rock, plating industry Natural radioactive element Tobacco products 

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Burned tobacco contains some 4,800 distinct chemicals in either gas or particle phases. Many of the compounds in both phases are highly reactive, poisonous, and toxic. Harmful products include oxidants and poisons produced during burning, as well as radioactivity, heavy metals, and pesticides that may have accumulated within the tobacco leaf. Sixty-nine of these substances are known to cause cancer in humans and animals, and many others are known to be strong irritants. 

Few chemicals identified as carcinogens in laboratory animals are known to cause cancer in humans, and the dose to affected tissues for these chemicals usually is not known well enough to define the dose-response relationship except in a general way. In this respect, the carcinogenic effects of most chemicals in humans are far less well known than are those of ionizing radiation. 

Cancer. Aluminum is not known to cause cancer in humans. Some workers in the aluminum industry have had a higher-than-expected cancer mortality rate, but this is probably due to the other potent carcinogens to which they are exposed, such as PAHs and tobacco smoke (Milham 1979 Mur et al. 

In the early 1960s the National Cancer Institute (NCI) developed procedures to formalize the process for the evaluation of the human risk of cancer from chemical exposures [8], This approach was based on decades of research that demonstrated that chemicals that were known to cause cancer in humans could also induce cancer in laboratory animals. The bioassay was originally envisioned as a cancer screen useful for identifying agents that would be examined in human epidemiology studies, assuming that relatively few compounds would induce tumors in animals. Despite the fact that the approach... 

Chromium and cancer Several studies have shown that chrominm (VI) compounds can increase the risk of lung cancer. Animal studies have also shown an increased risk of cancer. The WHO has determined that chromium (VI) is a human carcinogen. The DHHS has observed that certain chromium (VI) compounds are known to cause cancer in humans. The U.S. EPA has reported that chrominm (VI) in air is a human carcinogen. ... 

Viral, parasitic, and bacterial infections have been linked to cancer (Table 9). DNA viruses such as Epstein-Barr, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, papillomaviruses, and Kaposi sarcoma herpes virus and RNA viruses such as human T-cell leukemia virus type I and human immunodeficiency virus have been implicated in causing cancer in humans and are listed as known-to-cause-cancer in humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (lARC). In man, the liver fluke, Opisthorchis viverrini, is associated with the development of cholangiocarcinomas of the liver and the blood fluke. Schistosoma haematobium, with carcinoma of the urinary bladder. There is evidence that chronic Helicobacter pylori infection of the stomach in man is not only related to... 

In 1775, PAHs were the first group of compounds known to cause cancer in humans. Nowadays, many of these compounds are well-known carcinogens in humans and animals. PAHs are produced in the environment as the result of heating organic matter to high temperatures like tobacco smoke, soot, coal tar, creosote production, wood burning, smoked foods, roasted coffee, charbroiled meat, and fossil fuel combustion exhaust. However, the major environmental source comes from asphalt, tar, used motor oil, diesel exhaust, and coal burning. 

TABLE 124—1. Selected Drugs and Hormones Known to Cause Cancer in Humans... 

In 1974, in a classic Nobel Prize-winning paper by Rowland and Molina [Nature, 249, 810 (1974)], it was shown that CFCs in the atmosphere could be responsible for destroying the ozone (O3) layer that protects our planet from the strong ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the suri that is known to cause cancer in humans. This unsuspected problem arises from the lack of chemical reactivity of the CFCs under normal conditions, which results in their remaining in the atmosphere for a century or more, allowing time for their diffusion into the upper atmosphere. Once in the stratosphere, UV radiation from the sun breaks down the CFCs, releasing chlorine atoms that react... 

When there is generally accepted, well-established evidence that a chemical is known to cause cancer in humans, it should be labeled with the following statements of hazard or equivalent ... 

This substance has been shown to be carcinogenic in one or more animal species, depending on the circumstances. Although it is not known whether these substances are also carcinogenic in humans, they must be considered highly suspect, and the same caution should be exercized as when handling those chemicals known to cause cancer in humans. The company doctor/safety officer needs to be aware of any situations which pose a cancer risk to employees and should take all necessary safety precautions. 

What percentage of chemicals known to cause cancer in humans is regulated by OSHA ... 

Carcinogens that are known to cause cancer in humans (HC lA), and those presumed to cause cancer in humans (HC IB). There are two hazard categories here because there is more evidence for HC lA than HC IB however, the weight of evidence for both of these essentially means these are human carcinogens. 

Carcinogen A substance known to cause cancer in humans and animals representing a broad range of organic and inorganic chemicals, hormones, immunosuppresants, and solid-state materials. 

Despite the results from the climbing boys study, the list of known chemical carcinogens grew slowly. Prior to 1950, only three chemical mixmres were known to cause cancer in humans coal soot, tobacco, and naphthylamines from the production of synthetic dyes. Tobacco, like coal tar, had been recognized as a carcinogen ever since another London physician working in the 1700s, Dr. John Hill, first observed that excessive use of smokeless tobacco, or snuff, led to nasal cancer. 

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