Lung cancer relative biological effectiveness

The health effects of particulate matter (a complex mixture of solids and liquids) emissions are not yet well understood but are recognized as major contributors to health problems. Biological activity of particulate matter may be related to particle sizes and/or particle composition. Furthermore, it has generally been concluded that exposure to particulate matter may cause increased morbidity and mortality, such as from cardiovascular disease. Long-term exposure to particulate emissions is also associated with a small increase in the relative risk of lung cancer. 

The potential for unusual health effects of chemical mixtures due to the interaction of chemicals or their metabolites (e.g., metabolites of trichloroethylene and benzene) in or with the biosystem constitutes a real issue in the public health arena. However, toxicity testing to predict effects on humans has traditionally studied one chemical at a time for various reasons convenient to handle, physiochemical properties readily defined, dosage could easily be controlled, biologic fate could easily be measured, and relevant data were often available from human occupational exposures. Chemicals are known to cause disease for example, arsenic and skin cancer, asbestos and lung cancer, lead and decrements of IQ, and hepatitis B predisposes to aflatoxin-induced liver cancer but the link between the extent of human exposure to even well-defined chemical mixtures and disease formation remains relatively unexplored, but of paramount importance to public health. 

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