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Environmental Carcinogens

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Abstract

Cancer is caused by hereditary factors and by environmental carcinogens. While the former are currently inescapable, the later are potentially preventable. A carcinogen is any substance or agent in the environment that, through genotoxic or non-genotoxic mechanisms, leads to cancer. Because ethical issues preclude prospective studies on the ill effects of agents suspected to be harmful to humans, evidence for assessing their carcinogenicity must rely on indirect studies. The most reliable are epidemiological studies (cohort, case-control, correlation, intervention studies) to which biomarkers data are included whenever available. Because these types of studies do not necessarily yield clear answers, agents studied have been classified as known, probably, or possibly carcinogenic to humans. Known carcinogens include lifestyle factors (e.g. tobacco use), exposure to non-infectious agent such as natural elements (e.g., ultraviolet light, radon gas), medical treatments (e.g. chemotherapy and radiotherapy), workplace exposure (e.g., asbestos), household exposure (e.g. formaldehyde in air fresheners), air pollution (e.g. diesel exhaust) and infectious agents (e.g. hepatitis B virus and human papilloma virus). According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), there were 109 known (Group 1), 65 probable (Group 2A), and 275 possible (Group 2B) agents carcinogenic to humans, as of July 2013 [243]. However, because several national and international agencies study different agents at different times, lists of carcinogens, their composition, and agent carcinogenicity do not necessarily match.

Scientists plan to check toenail clippings from hundreds of people in Garfield, New Jersey, to determine if residents were exposed to a toxic metal linked to lung cancer.

– Reuters, March 25, 2013

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Notes

  1. 1.

    A Body Mass Index of 30 or greater; normal being 18.5–25.

  2. 2.

    A Body Mass Index 25 or greater.

  3. 3.

    Gut microbial ecology.

  4. 4.

    Heart muscle dilatation.

  5. 5.

    Irregular heart rhythm.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Daytona Beach Shores, FL, USA

    Guy Faguet

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  1. Guy Faguet
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Faguet, G. (2015). Environmental Carcinogens. In: The Conquest of Cancer. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9165-6_4

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