Here’s something I didn’t know about! There is actually a subsidiary of the Department of Health and Human services that monitors cancer-causing agents. Called the National Toxicological Program, at varying intervals it produces a “congressionally-mandated, science-based, public health document” called the “Report on Carcinogens.” In this report, new substances found to have cancer-causing potential are announced.
On December 21, 2021 the 15th “Report on Carcinogens” was produced and released to the public; more about that below. The full list (found at http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/go/roc) is divided into two main categories, which are:
1. Substances Known to be Human Carcinogens
2. Substances Reasonably Anticipated to be Human Carcinogens
What is a Carcinogen?
The dictionary defines carcinogen as any substance or agent that tends to produce a cancer!
The updated list contains 256 substances. The 15th Report added eight substances which are the following:
Antimony Trioxide — a flame retardant for plastic and textile-based consumer prods.
Six Haloacetic acids — by-products of water disinfectant treatments using chlorine
Helicobacter pylori — a bacteria in contaminated drinking water, known to cause
stomach ulcers and stomach cancer
Interestingly the list of “Known Substances” has only 63 (25%) items while the “Reasonably Anticipated List” has 193 (75%), the balance of 256. Of the three new substances, only Helicobacter pylori made the “Known” list.
Some known carcinogens are:
Alcoholic beverages—hepatocellular carcinoma
Asbestos—mesothelioma
Benzene—Leukemia
Dyes—liver cancer, Leukemia
Epstein-Barr virus—Lymphomas
Estrogens—breast and uterine cancer
Helicobacter pylori—gastric cancer
HIV—Byrkitt’s lymphoma
Silica—lung cancer
Sunlight, Tanning beds—skin cancer
Tamoxifen—uterine cancer
Tobacco smoke—lung cancer, oral cancer
Reasonably Anticipated Substances are:
Adriamycin
Basic Red Dye
Carbon Tetrachloride
Chloramphenicol
Chloroform
Cisplatin
Cobalt
Diesel Exhaust particles
Lead and Lead Compounds
Metronidazole
Naphthalene
Nitrogen mustard
Phenacetin
Progesterone
Toluene
Ultraviolet Radiation
Known Carcinogens are given more emphasis by physicians for obvious reasons. Having the full list helps physicians when making a diagnosis because they consider substances they may have forgotten, or were unaware, could cause a cancer. It forces us to look deeper and farther into the patient’s history and environment for the cause of an illness. “Cancer affects almost everyone’s life, either directly or indirectly… the identification of carcinogens is a key step in cancer prevention…” Having knowledge of these lists should make all physicians more aware of the more unusual circumstances where cancer can occur.
The complete list can be found at this website: ntp.niehs.nih.gov
Reference: Health Agencies Update “Substances added to List of Human Carcinogens” JAMA 2022 Feb 22;327(8):709.
