PAH Carcinogenicity and Theoretical Models

The carcinogenicity of tar and other PAH containing materials was first demonstrated in animal experiments in the early 1900. Dibenzo[a,h]anthracene (DBA), synthesised in 1929, and benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), isolated from pitch in 1930, were the first pure PAH s shown to be carcinogenic to animals. The first review article on PAH carcinogenicity in mice was published in 1932 [40]. The Iball carcinogenicity index calculated from tumour incidence and latent period has been introduced in 1939 [4,41]. It is defined as  

I 100 ( % carcinoma bearing mice) average latent period in days 

The history of the quantum theoretical approach to the elucidation of PAH carcinogenesis reaches back to the late 1930 s. Schmidt [42,43] and Swartholm [44] attempted to develop a parallel between calculated reactivities at certain regions of PAH s, which were later termed the K and 

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