Inferred risk

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'Inferred risk of cancer' describes situations in which there is exposure to an agent that may be carcinogenic – the evidence comes primarily from laboratory studies involving animals so cancer risk to humans may not have been proven.

Occupational exposure to chemicals for which some evidence of carcinogenicity is available
Situation	Occupational exposure to chemicals for which some evidence of carcinogenicity is available
Exposure	Various specific workers
Carcinogen	Occupational exposure in dry cleaning; Work involving Acrylontrile Chloroform DDT
Principal route of exposure	Inhalation and possibly dermal
Target organ (or tumour type)	Lung & other sites including leukaemia
Comment	Following exposure to many agents, attributing risk to single agents, most of which are categorized as possibly carcinogenic to humans, is difficult.

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Agricultural work involving herbicides
Situation	Agricultural work involving herbicides
Exposure	Farmers, forestry workers
Carcinogen	Chlorophenoxy and possibly other compounds
Principal route of exposure	Inhalation and dermal
Target organ (or tumour type)	Lymphoma
Comment	Lymphoma risk associated with agricultural work rather than specific chemicals.

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Residential exposure to insecticides
Situation	Residential exposure to insecticides
Exposure	Occupants of sprayed houses
Carcinogen	Many including Chlordane
Principal route of exposure	Inhalation & dermal
Target organ (or tumour type)	Breast and various sites investigated
Comment	Increasingly better indicators of exposure are being used.

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Environment exposure to DDT
Situation	Environment exposure to DDT
Exposure	Young women
Carcinogen	DDT
Principal route of exposure	Not clear
Target organ (or tumour type)	Breast
Comment	Exposure determined by levels of DDT in serum.

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Heterocyclic amines in cooked meat and fish
Situation	Heterocyclic amines in cooked meat and fish
Exposure	Whole population
Carcinogen	Multiple compounds including PhIP
Principal route of exposure	Ingestion
Target organ (or tumour type)	Colo-rectum, prostate and possibly other sites
Comment	Impact of specific chemicals as mediating dietary-associated risk is difficult to resolve.

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Chloroform in toothpaste
Situation	Chloroform in toothpaste
Exposure	Consumers of the product
Carcinogen	Chloroform
Principal route of exposure	Ingestion
Target organ (or tumour type)	Not clear
Comment	Usage discontinued in many countries.

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Polybrominated biphenyls as flame retardant
Situation	Polybrominated biphenyls as flame retardant
Exposure	Children primarily and otherwise, whole population
Carcinogen	Polybrominated biphenyls
Principal route of exposure	Oral and dermal exposure of infants
Target organ (or tumour type)	Not clear
Comment	Relatively new compound Blood levels rising in general US population

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Contaminated honey
Situation	Contaminated honey
Exposure	Consumers of the product
Carcinogen	Pyrrolizidine alkaloids
Principal route of exposure	Ingestion
Target organ (or tumour type)
Comment	Dietary intake of extremely low concentrations

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Pollutants and pesticide residues in breast milk
Situation	Pollutants and pesticide residues in breast milk
Exposure	Infants
Carcinogen	Various pesticides, polychlorinated bipenyls TCDD
Principal route of exposure	Oral exposure of infants
Target organ (or tumour type)	Not clear
Comment	Infants considered to be a most vulnerable population. Compounds may be detectable long after usage ceases.

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Personal use of hair colouring agents
Situation	Personal use of hair colouring agents
Exposure	Users of hair dyes (predominantly women)
Carcinogen	Not clear; dye formulations subject to change over time.
Principal route of exposure	Dermal
Target organ (or tumour type)	Hematopoietic neoplasms Urinary bladder
Comment	Evidence of dye absorption.

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Environmental exposure causing childhood leukemia
Situation	Environmental exposure causing childhood leukemia
Exposure	Children
Carcinogen	Multiple pollutants implicated
Principal route of exposure	Main route not clear, but presumably including inhalation, oral and dermal
Target organ (or tumour type)	Leukaemia
Comment	Relevant environmental exposures also include infection-related risk factors

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Residence near power lines
Situation	Residence near power lines
Exposure	Children
Carcinogen	Extremely low frequency electric & magnetic fields
Principal route of exposure	Irradiation
Target organ (or tumour type)	Leukaemia
Comment	Causality not established but reported associations cannot be discounted.

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Perineal use of talc-based body powder
Situation	Perineal use of talc-based body powder
Exposure	Women using body powder
Carcinogen	Talc used in this manner
Principal route of exposure	Retrograde absorption via reproductive tract
Target organ (or tumour type)	Ovary
Comment	Not supported by relevant experimental findings

This information is based on peer review research published in the journal: B.W. Stewart, Banding carcinogenic risks in developed countries: A procedural basis for qualitative assessment, Mutat. Res.: Rev. Mutat. Res. (2008), doi:10.1016/j.mrrev.2007.11.007.

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This page was last updated on: Wednesday, November 18, 2015

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