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Carcinogens in the Environment

Carcinogens in the Environment. Rachelle Heller. What is a Carcinogens. A carcinogen is any substance, radionuclide, or radiation that is an agent directly involved in causing cancer. This may be due to the ability to damage the genome or to the disruption of cellular metabolic processes

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Carcinogens in the Environment

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  1. Carcinogens in the Environment Rachelle Heller

  2. What is a Carcinogens A carcinogen is any substance, radionuclide, or radiation that is an agent directly involved in causing cancer. This may be due to the ability to damage the genome or to the disruption of cellular metabolic processes Some carcinogens do not affect DNA directly, but lead to cancer in other ways. They may cause cells to divide at a faster than normal rate, which could increase the chances that DNA changes will occur.

  3. Common Carcinogens Pesticides Chloroform C/EDC/B Benzene C Arsenic (Inorganic Arsenic) Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB’s)

  4. Environmental Carcinogens How Carcinogens get into the Environment How Carcinogens affect the Environment Polluted water Poor air quality Chemical pollutants Ionizing radon radiation Death or malformation of : fauna, flora, aquatic life, insects Soils

  5. How to test for Carcinogens Animal Tests Non-animal Tests The animals are dosed by oral, dermal, or inhalation exposures, based upon the expected type of human exposure. Dosing typically lasts around two years. Certain animal health features are monitored throughout the study, but the key assessment resides in the full pathological analysis of the animal tissues and organs when the study is terminated. Methods include cell-based assays and computational prediction models. Mutagenicity and genotoxicity assays can be used to indicate possible carcinogenic substances, and the two in vitro , and can be used to identify possible carcinogens Compared to the in vivo carcinogenicity assays, in vitro methods are significantly faster and less expensive, but current methods are not considered sufficient to serve as full animal replacements at this time.

  6. Animal Cancers Tasmanian devil Beluga whales Green sea turtles Humped back whales Sharks Mice

  7. Regulations Banning the use of DDT and PCB’s Although there are not many regulations regarding carcinogens, a few are in the works with the EPA and the CDC

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