Substance environmental cancer-causing

Finally, some recognition must be made of the term carcinogen since many of the environmental effects noted in this book can lead to cancer. Carcinogens are cancer-causing substances, and there is a growing awareness of the presence of carcinogenic materials in the environment. A classification scheme is provided for such materials (Table 1.1). The number of substances with which a person... 

But we are moving too quickly. Before we can begin to contemplate the contribution of all these environmental carcinogens to the total cancer problem we need to acquire a better understanding of what is meant by the terms carcinogen or cancer-causing chemical and of how certain substances get to carry these labels. 

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has determined that 3,3 -dichlorobenzidine is a probable human carcinogen. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has determined that 3,3 -dichlorobenzidine and its salt may reasonably be expected to be cancer-causing substances... 

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (lARC) [9], the National Toxicology Program [10], and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [11] evaluate cancer-causing candidates, make reports on their toxicity every few years, and keep a database describing the health effects from the exposure to certain substances. The nomenclature used by these independent agencies in the classification of the toxicity of substances they evaluate is summarized in Table 4.1. 

The other global environmental problem, stratospheric ozone depletion, was less controversial and more imminent. The U.S. Senate Committee Report supporting the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 states, Destruction of the ozone layer is caused primarily by the release into the atmosphere of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and similar manufactured substances—persistent chemicals that rise into the stratosphere where they catalyze the destruction of stratospheric ozone. A decrease in stratospheric ozone will allow more ultraviolet (UV) radiation to reach Earth, resulting in increased rates of disease in humans, including increased incidence of skin cancer, cataracts, and, potentially, suppression of the immune system. Increased UV radiation has also been shown to damage crops and marine resources."... 

OECD has also published a document on a Harmonised integrated classification system for human health and environmental hazards of chemical substances and mixtures (OECD 2001b). Chapter 2.6 addresses a harmonized system for the classification of chemicals, which cause cancer. 

Michigan contamination episode (Henderson et al. 1995 Hoque et al. 1998), but the results are only suggestive due to factors such as small number of cases, insufficient information on know n breast cancer risk factors, and confounding exposures to other organochlorine chemicals. The evidence for an association betw een breast cancer and PCBs is also not conclusive (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 2000), and the hypothesis that environmental exposure to PCBs can cause breast cancer in humans is controversial (Safe and Zacharewski 1997 Wolff and Toniolo 1995). Overall, tlie evidence for an association between breast cancer and PBBs is inconclusive and needs further study. 

Diesel exhaust is a complex mixture of gases and fine particles, and contains over 40 substances that EPA considers hazardous, including benzene. The researchers found that exposure to diesel exhaust at a concentration of about 2 yUg/m3 will cause cancer. The environmental groups are recommending a switch to liquefied natural gas (Cooney, 1998b) and oxygenated fuels (McCormick et al., 1997). 

Society would not look the same without man-made chemicals, being of utmost importance in medicine, industry and agriculture and for the daily welfare of citizens (European Commission 2009). At the same time, the production and use of many chemicals are causing severe health and environmental problems, including allergies, cancer and decline of biodiversity (see e.g. EEA 2007 EEA1998) in fact, 70% of new chemical substances assessed under EU law have at least one property that is dangerous to the environment (European Commission 2003). Adverse effects result from the continued use of well-known hazardous substances and from new chemicals that are introduced without much control, not least chemicals found in... 

Cancer, or neoplasia, which occurs in one of every four individuals and results in the death of one of every five individuals in the United States, is a complex disease with multiple causes. Many intrinsic and extrinsic factors influence the development of cancer. Intrinsic or host factors include age, sex, genetic constitution, immune system function, metabolism, hormone levels, and nutritional status. Extrinsic factors include substances eaten, drunk, or smoked workplace and environmental (air, water, and soil) exposures natural and medical radiation exposure ... 

Water pollution due to discharge of toxic chemical wastes is closely regulated by both the EPA and FDA. Such substances are defined in the 1972 amendment of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act as those which will cause death, disease, cancer, or genetic malfunctions in any organisms with which they come into contact. Substances added to water for purification purposes (chlorine, aluminum sulfate, etc.) are excluded from the category of pollutants. See Environmental Protection Agency air pollution water pollution. 

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