Cancer scrotal

In 1775 the British surgeon Sir Percivall Pott suggested that scrotal cancer in chim ney sweeps was caused by soot This was the first pro posal that cancer could be caused by chemicals present in the workplace... 

Modem toxicology has its roots in the occupational environment. The earliest recorded observations relating exposure to chemical substances and toxic manifestations were made about workers. These include Agricola s identification of the diseases of miners and Pott s investigation of scrotal cancer incidence among chimney sweeps. Occupational toxicology, as its name implies, concerns itself with the toxicological implications of exposure to chemicals in the work environment. 

The history of the relationship between environmental agents and cancer is a long one. To begin with, the British surgeon Percival Pott noted in 1775 that young boys employed in London as chimney sweeps suffered an abnormally high frequency of scrotal cancer. Clearly, there was something in the coal tar to which they were exposed in their miserably filthy work that elicited this 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. 

Cancer was first recognized as an occupational hazard in 1775 when the prevalence of scrotal cancer among London chimney sweeps was noticed. The chemical origin of this form of cancer was not universally accepted until 1922 when it was demonstrated that tumors could be induced on mouse skin using an etheral soot extract (60). Skin cancer was also noted to be an occupational hazard of workers exposed to pitch dust in the coal-briquetting industry (61) and to workers exposed to cmde tar (62). In 1915, tumors were produced in rabbits ears by prolonged application of cmde coal tar (63). Some 38 cases per year have been reported of cutaneous epithelioma in the tar distilling industry over a 25-year period up to 1945 (64). 

Probably the earliest such observation was by Sir Percival Pott, an English physician, in 1775. He noted that chimney sweeps, who tended to suffer from scrotal cancer, were also exposed to soot and tar. He correctly connected these two events. More recent research confirmed that coal tar and the aromatic hydrocarbons it contains will cause cancer of the skin in experimental animals. 

There were some important developments during the eighteenth century. Probably the best known is the publication of Ramazini s Diseases of Workers in 1700, which led to his recognition as the father of occupational medicine. The correlation between the occupation of chimney sweeps and scrotal cancer by Percival Pott in 1775 is almost as well known, although it was foreshadowed by Hill s correlation of nasal cancer and snuff use in 1761. 

Two of the earliest observations that exposure of humans to certain chemicals or substances is related to an increased incidence of cancer were made independently by two English physicians, John Hill in 1771 and Sir Percival Pott in 1776. Hill observed an increased incidence of nasal cancer among snuff users, while Pott observed that chimney sweeps had an increased incidence of scrotal cancer. Pott attributed this to topical exposure to soot and coal tar. It was not until nearly a century and a half later in 1915 when two Japanese scientists, K. Yamagiwa and K. J. Itchikawa, substantiated Pott s observation by demonstrating that multiple topical applications of coal tar to rabbit skin produced skin carcinomas. This experiment is important for two major... 

Percivall Pott, 1775 born in 1714 and apprenticed to Edward Nourse, made some groundbreaking discoveries in the fields of cancer research and surgery techniques. He discovered the link between occupational carcinogens and scrotal cancer in chimney sweeps and wrote multiple scientific articles in his lifetime. 

Sources American Cancer Society. 2001. Cancer Facts and Figures, 2001. New York American Cancer Society American Cancer Society. 2006. Known and Probable Carcinogens New York American Cancer Society Waldron, A. 1983. A brief history of scrotal cancer, British Journal of... 

In England in 1775, Dr. Percivall Pott wrote a paper on the high incidence of scrotal cancer in chimney sweeps who were typically boys small enough to fit inside chimneys and clean out the soot. Pott suggested that chimney soot contained carcinogens that could cause the growth of the warts seen in scrotal cancer. Over a 150 years later, chimney soot was found to contain hydrocarbons capable of mutating DNA. 

The discovery that exposure to exogenous chemicals could lead to cancer in humans was first made in the late 18th century, when Percival Pott demonstrated the relationship between cancer of the scrotum and the occupation of chimney sweepers exposed to coal tar/soot. Other examples noted later were scrotal cancers in cotton spinners exposed to unrefined mineral oils, and cancers of the urinary bladder in men who worked in textile dye and rubber industries due to their exposure to certain aromatic amines used as antioxidants. Experimental induction of cancer by chemicals was first reported in detail by Yamagiwa and Ichikawa in 1918, when repeated application of coal tar to the ear of rabbits resulted in skin carcinomas. Over the next few years, Kennaway and Leitch confirmed this finding and demonstrated similar effects in mice and rabbits from the application of soot extracts, other types of tar (e.g., acetylene or isoprene), and some heated mineral oils. These researchers also observed skin irritation sometimes accompanied by ulcers at the site of application of the test material. Irritation was thought to be an important factor in skin tumor development. However, not all irritants (e.g., acridine) induced skin cancer in mice and conversely, some purified chemicals isolated from these crude materials... 

Creosote is carcinogenic to humans x-udd occupational studies that show an increased incidence in scrotal cancer in workers exposed to creosote from wood and coal burning Are places. 

Workers routinely exposed to PAHs have been reported to show increased incidences of skin, bladder, lung, and gastrointestinal cancers. Other studies also demonstrated increased incidences of lung and scrotal cancer. 3-MC is a PAH and is considered to be carcinogenic in humans. 

Partly as a result of epidemiological evidence it is now generally accepted that the majority of human cancers result from exposure to environmental carcinogens these include both natural and man-made chemicals, radiation and viruses. This concept follows on from many observations and work in the early part of the century which showed that coal tar, and then the aromatic hydrocarbons derived from it, could induce skin cancer in animals. Indeed, the relationship between such substances and cancer was suggested as early as the 18th century, when in 1775 Sir Percival Pott related scrotal cancer in chimney sweeps to exposure to soot and coal tar. 

Soot (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) English chimney sweeps Scrotal cancer... 

Since the discovery in the Eighteenth Century of scrotal cancer in young chimney sweeps caused by exposure to soot, epidemiological studies have identified a considerable number of human carcinogens. The list includes cigarette smoke, asbestos, benzene, vinyl chloride, nickel, chromium, cadmium, alcohol, ionizing radiation, radon, benzidine and arsenic (1). Many of these discoveries have come from studies of workers in various industries. 

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