50 Everyday Used Chemicals Found to Trigger the Development of Cancer

Current research estimates that chemicals could be responsible for about one in five cancers. A cocktail of 50 chemicals we are exposed to on a daily basis, including some found in mobile phones, detergents and pesticides used on fruits and vegetables, may trigger the development of cancer.

Hemad Yasaei from Brunel University London said, "This research backs up the idea that chemicals not considered harmful by themselves may be combining and accumulating in our bodies to trigger cancer and might lie behind the global cancer epidemic we are witnessing."

A global task force of 174 scientists from leading research centers across 28 countries studied the link between mixtures of commonly encountered chemicals and the development of cancer. The study selected 85 chemicals not considered to be carcinogenic to humans and found that 50 supported key cancer-related mechanisms at exposures found in the environment.

With humans being routinely exposed to thousands of chemicals, the effects need to be better understood to reduce the incidence of cancer globally. Lead study author William Goodson, senior scientist at the California Pacific Medical Centre in San Francisco said, "Every day we are exposed to an environmental 'chemical soup', so we need testing that evaluates the effects of our ongoing exposure to these chemical mixtures." .

The research was published in Carcinogenesis.

Source: IANS