Running Head: OCCUPATIONAL CARCINOGENS

The art of listing occupational carcinogens

Emmanuel Mashedi

OCCUPATIONAL CARCINOGENS Discovery of occupational carcinogens Occupational carcinogens do make up the bulk of the known human carcinogens. Their knowledge helps form a major step towards drafting ways of handling and prevention of future cancer cases. The data from the discovery of occupational carcinogens may be taken up and used by scientists for research. Research has helped factories develop new preventive workplace measures as well as products that are less cancerous. Since occupational carcinogens do affect the people way beyond the factories, it is of much importance in the fight against cancer for research to be done on them (Coleman & Tsongalis, 2002). There is difficulty in determining the composition of carcinogenic substances. This is because there are similarities that exist between occupational carcinogens and the others that occur outside the workplace. Another twist is when a factorys staff is facing a high cancer risk, but is unable to point it to a causative agent. Sometimes in some cases there is only suggestive cause of cancer. An example of this is bladder cancer prevalence among the painters, who is more of a suggestive cause. The above reasons emphasize the need for distinct labeling of occupational carcinogens (Cooper, 1992).

In the quest to define occupational carcinogens the number of staff exposed is of paramount importance. This number though important, has to meet a certain minimum threshold for it to be put under occupational carcinogen. According to Hodgson (2010), this is because amongst the main population on our day to day lives, some are exposed through medication or drug manufacture. However, these numbers are quite negligible. This has prompted the breakdown of carcinogenic causes. Its easier now to nail the

OCCUPATIONAL CARCINOGENS exact number of people facing work related cancer-causing situations. The breakdown

is divided into definite, probable, or possible human occupational carcinogens. This data is of vital use in the fight against cancer. Among the most affected organs of the human body is the lung. The paint for the painter, the spray for the worker on the flower farm, or any other type of air pollution ends up in the lungs. The list for the courses keeps expanding as new cancer cases develop and get reported. Carcinogenic agents once discovered, are less likely to be classified as harmless with time. They remain high-risk substances. This explains the fact that a lot of todays discovered occupational carcinogens were under observation from way back in the 1950s. However, many different carcinogenic substances continue to be discovered, while new ways of curbing the existing ones continue to be developed. The risk levels on carcinogens change depending on the exposure time and other factors (Latreille et al., 2004). In the fight against cancer, the research on the occupational carcinogen cant be stressed further. It is an important aspect of research on curative and preventative methods. The rules which regulatory bodies develop, define their origin from the occupational carcinogenic discovery. Designated carcinogens The international agency for research on cancer does review important data that relate to chemicals and industrial carcinogenic agents. They get this data from the studies of human cases or by doing experiments on animals. They figure out the poisonous nature of their subject the level of uptake and absorption into the animal or human systems. Research then, is directed towards the exposure to the cancerous

OCCUPATIONAL CARCINOGENS substance as well as towards human, and animal reported cases. The human and animal evidence is of great importance in the classification of carcinogens. Definite human carcinogens are said to be eighty nine, probable carcinogens are at sixty four and lastly 264 is the number of possible human carcinogens (Latreille et al., 2004). Carcinogens are categorized under those with enough carcinogenic evidence this is observed both in human and animals. The aim of such a category is to eliminate any cases of foul or unreliable claims. Then there is the limited evidence category in

which one cannot rule out forms of bias. Insufficient evidence is one in which there is no linkage between the carcinogenic agent and the symptoms in humans and animals. Finally, under evidence that shows the lack of carcinogenicity. This means, there is absolutely no evidence that links the suspect substance with a cancerous condition both in humans and in animals (Milman & Weisburger, 1994). Carcinogen information There has been scarcity of information on the categorization of carcinogens as well as the high-risk areas. The authors used a rule number of above ten thousand workers exposed worldwide or above a thousand workers exposed in a country (Milman & Weisburger, 1994). This is the threshold which they used as a minimum requirement in data evaluation. With this they came up with twenty eight definite human occupational carcinogens, twenty seven probable, 113 possible and eighteen organizations that have cancer risk (Latreille et al., 2004). The latest data may change the earlier given evaluation since the data is recent. The inclusion of substances that have been long restricted in some countries is among the new information the new authors have tabled on carcinogens. The authors managed to develop an all-inclusive list of occupational

OCCUPATIONAL CARCINOGENS carcinogens that will act as a better guide for research. Their information will also be used to develop regulatory policies, as well as help in crafting of cancer prevention instructions.

OCCUPATIONAL CARCINOGENS References Coleman, W. B., & Tsongalis, G. J. (2002). The molecular basis of human cancer. Totowa, NJ: Humana Press. Cooper, G. M. (1992). Elements of human cancer. Boston: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Hodgson, E. (2010). A textbook of modern toxicology. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley & Sons. Latreille, B., Lakhani, R., et al. (2004). Listing Occupational Carcinogens. Environ Health Perspect, 112 (15): doi: 10.1289/ehp. 7047

Milman, H. A., & Weisburger, E. K. (1994). Handbook of carcinogen testing. Park Ridge, N.J., U.S.A: Noyes Publications.