Abstract
Induction of cancer by exposure to chemicals was disclosed 127 years before the first report of cancer from X-rays (Frieben 1902), and 136 years before the unequivocal establishment of viruses as cancer-causing agents (Rous 1911). Percival Pott (1775) is generally credited with having described the first chemically induced occupational cancer, in chimney sweepers after long-term exposure to soot, followed later on by reports of coal tar being causally related to skin cancer (Volkmann 1875). Another pioneer contribution was by Rehn in 1895 who described bladder cancer in dye-stuff workers for the first time. He ascribed these cancers to aniline but, as we now know, they were induced by β-naphthylamine and benzidine.
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© 1987 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Henschler, D. (1987). Assessment of Cancer Risk from Chemicals. In: Bannasch, P. (eds) Cancer Risks. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-71843-4_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-71843-4_3
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