Eight Items Added to List of Known Human Carcinogens and Reasonably Anticipated to be Carcinogens

The US Department of Health and Human Services has expanded the list of Known Human Carcinogens and Reasonably Anticipated to be Carcinogens by eight more items including Formaldehyde and a compound present in Styrofoam.

The Known Human Carcinogens list was expanded by two items, Formaldehyde and Aristolochic acids. While Formaldehyde had been early suspected of being a human carcinogen, National Toxicology Program's John Bucher said that recent studies have proved that Formaldehyde can be directly connected to leukemia.

Six new items were added to the Reasonably Anticipated to be Carcinogens list including styrene, a synthetic chemical found in Styrofoam and which is used in a number of items including pipes and plastics, Captafol, a fungicide used by farmers, certain glass and wool fibers, cobalt-tungsten carbide, Ortho-Nitrotoluene and Riddelliine.

Announcing the report, Bucher said that it was important to be aware of what potentially harmful things are around us in the environment. "This report underscores the critical connection between our nation's health and what's in our environment", he said.

Source: Medindia