A Small Dose Cancer and

Genetic Toxicology

PowerPoint Presentation (also available in Acrobat format)
References / Additional Information (updated 1/4/05)

Causes of Cancer
Lifestyle - Tobacco consumption, alcohol
Nutrition (diet, fat, high calories)
Environmental exposures - Chemicals in air, drinking water
Organic chemicals - Benzo(a)pyrene (coal tar), benzene, solvents, alconol, dyes
Inorganic agents (metals – arsenic, nickel …)
Inorganic chemicals - Arsenic, cadmium, nickel
Fibers - Asbestos
Radiation - Sun (ultraviolet), radioactive material
Drugs - DES (diethylstilbestrol)
Viruses - Epstein-Barr virus, HIV, papillomavirus
Genetic - Increased likelihood (breast cancer)
Hormones

Case Studies in Chapter
Soot
Benzene
Asbestos
Radon

REFERENCES / ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

European, Asian, and International Agencies

• IARC - International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) - World Health Organization (WHO). (accessed: 5 April 2003).
  IARC's mission is to coordinate and conduct research on the causes of human cancer, the mechanisms of carcinogenesis, and to develop scientific strategies for cancer control.
• World Health Organization (WHO) - Cancer. (accessed: 5 April 2003).
  Site has information on international exposure to a wide range of compounds that cause cancer.
• Japan - National Cancer Center (English). (accessed: 5 April 2003).
  Site has information on the treatment and cause of cancer for Japan (Janpaese or English version available).
• Australia - SunSmart. (accessed: 5 April 2003).
  An Australian site that focuses on skin cancer and its primary cause as the sun.
• Australia - Cancer Council Victoria. (accessed: 6 April 2003).
  "The Cancer Council Victoria is an independent, volunteer-based charity whose mission is to lead, coordinate, implement and evaluate action to minimise the human cost of cancer for all Victorians."
• Asbestos Institute. (accessed: 5 April 2003).
  The Asbestos Institute is dedicated to promoting the safe use of asbestos in Canada and throughout the world. (French and English).
  

North American Agencies

• Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation - global leader in the fight against breast cancer through its support of innovative research and community-based outreach programs. (accessed: 8 july 2004).
• U.S. National Center for Toxicogenomics (NIEHS). (accessed: 29 February, 2004). With a mission is to coordinate a nationwide research effort for the development of a toxicogenomics knowledge base.
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). (accessed: 5 April 2003).
  Oncology Tools contains a variety of information related to cancer and approved cancer drug therapies.
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). (accessed: 5 April 2003).
  EPA cancer risk assessment guidelines.
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) - National Center for Environmental Assessment (NECA). (accessed: 5 April 2003).
  Applying science to improve risk assessment and environmental decision making.
• U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI). (accessed: 5 April 2003).
  The NCI, established under the National Cancer Act of 1937, is the Federal Government's principal agency for cancer research and training
• U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (accessed: 5 April 2003).
  The CDC monitors cancer incidence and promotes cancer prevention and control.
• U.S. National Cancer Institute - The Cancer Mortality Maps & Graph Web Site. (accessed: 5 April 2003).
  This site provides interactive maps, graphs (which are accessible to the blind and visually-impaired), text, tables and figures showing geographic patterns and time trends of cancer death rates for the time period 1950-1994 for more than 40 cancers.
• U.S. Cancer Information Service (CSI). (accessed: 5 April 2003).
  A service of the US National Cancer Institute, CSI, is a "source for the latest, most accurate cancer information for patients, their families, the general public, and health professionals".
• U.S. Brookhaven National Laboratory - Safety & Health Services Chemical Management. (accessed: 5 April 2003).
  Site contains a comprehensive table listing chemicals and compares their designation as carcinogens by national and international agencies.
  

Benzene Information

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). (accessed: 5 April 2003).
Hazard fact sheet on benzene.

U.S. Agency for Toxic Substance Disease Registry (ATSDR). (accessed: 5 April 2003).
See fact sheets and case studies in environmental medicine (benzene)

Asbestos Information

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). (accessed: 5 April 2003).
Extensive information on asbestos.

U.S. Cancer Information Service (CSI) - Facts of Asbestos. (accessed: 5 April 2003).
Extensive information on asbestos.

Environmental Working Group Report on Asbestos - March 2004. (accessed: 6 March 2004).

Radon Information

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). (accessed: 5 April 2003).
USEPA has extensive information on radon exposure in the U.S.

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). (accessed: 5 April 2003).
Maps and supply information on radon in the United States

Non-Government Organizations

The Breast Cancer Fund (TBCF) is the leading national organization focused on identifying the causes of breast cancer and preventing the disease. See - State of the Evidence 2004. (accessed: 4 January 2005).

The American Cancer Society (ACS). (accessed: 5 April 2003).
The ACS is a nationwide community-based voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and service.

Asbestos Network. (accessed: 5 April 2003).
A legal firm supports this site on "Asbestos: Mesothelioma, Asbestosis, and Other Problems", good historical information.

Boston University School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health. (accessed: 5 April 2003).
This site has a very interesting article on the human side of asbestos exposure.

The White Lung Association. (accessed: 5 April 2003).
Non-profit web site on asbestos exposure.

National Radon Safety Board (NRSB). (accessed: 5 April 2003).
"The NRSB seeks to encourage the highest standards of practice and integrity in radon services through the development of independent standards and procedures for certifying, approving and accrediting radon testers, mitigators, measurement devices, chambers and laboratories."

American Lung Association (ALA). (accessed: 5 April 2003).
Site has information on radon in the home environment as well as tobacco and asthma.

Environmental Mutagen Society (EMS). (accessed: 5 April 2003).
EMS fosters research on the basic mechanisms of mutagenesis as well as on the application of this knowledge in the field of genetic toxicology.

References

• Riddle, John M. Eve's Herbs: A History of Contraception and Abortion in the West. Harvard University Press; Cambridge, Mass 1999,. 352 pages.