The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has just added four new substances to the official federal list of carcinogens. This is a list they update every year as they learn more about or find new developments of carcinogens—biological, chemical, or physical agents which directly related to causing cancer by either damaging the body’s genome or by altering cellular metabolism.
Although the HHS has identified four, only one of the newly classified substances is a “known human carcinogen.” The other three, they have labeled as “reasonably anticipated to be human carcinogens.”
The substance they know is a human carcinogen is called ortho-toluidine (also o-toluidine) which is one of three toluidine isomers frequently used in the synthesizing of rubber, pesticides, and dyes. It is a manufacturing agent. HHS looked at many studies of the substance to link it specifically with bladder cancer. O-toluidine was previously on the “reasonably anticipated” list and has now been upgraded.
The other three, however, are mostly newcomers to this index. These are chemicals known as 1-bromopropane, cumene, and pentachlorophenol.
It is not surprising that two of the four to be added to the list are present in tobacco smoke.
1-bromopropane is a colorless liquid used as a solvent, most often in dry cleaning. Cumene is also a colorless liquid but it is flammable, most often found in crude oil and refined fuels. Pentachlorophenol
Dr. Linda Birnbaum is the director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Toxicology Program (NTP). She says “Identifying substances in our environment that can make people vulnerable to cancer will help in prevention efforts. This report provides a valuable resource for health regulatory and research agencies, and it empowers the public with information people can use to reduce exposure to cancer causing substances.”
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