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What is Carcinogens

What is Carcinogens Mean

  • The term “carcinogen” denotes a chemical substance or a mixture of chemical substances which may induce cancer or increase its incidence.

Categories of Carcinogens

Chemical Carcinogens (including those from Biological Sources):

  • A variety of chemical effluents from industry and environmental pollutants from automobiles, residences, and factories eg. Acrylamide chemicals in tobacco smoke, benzene etc.
  • The majority of chemical carcinogens require metabolic activation for their carcinogenic effects.
Physical Carcinogens:

  • Physical carcinogens include ultraviolet rays from sunlight and ionizing radiation from X-rays and from radioactive materials in industry and in the general environment.
  • Repeated local injury (e.g., wounding) or recurring irritation (e.g., chronic inflammation) to a part of the body are other examples of potential physical carcinogens.
Oncogenic (cancer-causing) Viruses:

  • A number of viruses are suspected of causing cancer in animals. Eg. human papillomaviruses, the Epstein-Barr virus, and the hepatitis B virus, all of which have genomes made up of DNA.
  • Human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I), which is a retrovirus (a type of RNA virus), is linked to tumour formation in humans.
  • The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a branch of the World Health Organization that monitors cancer research, has listed more than 400 chemical agents as carcinogenic, probably carcinogenic, or possibly carcinogenic.

 

Carcinogen Benzene Effects

  • Benzene: colorless or light yellow liquid at room temperature. It has a sweet odor and is highly flammable.
  • Some industries use benzene to make other chemicals that are used to make plastics, resins, and nylon and synthetic fibers.
  • Benzene is also used to make some types of lubricants, rubbers, dyes, detergents, drugs, and pesticides.
Carcinogen-Benzene-Effects
Carcinogen-Benzene-Effects

 

Why is Benzene used in Dry Shampoos?

  • Spray-on personal-care products like dry shampoos often contain propellants like propane and butane, which are petroleum distillates made by refining crude oil.
  • In a typical aerosol, the propellant is a gas under pressure above the content.
  • The gas pushes down on the liquid, forcing it out of the valve when it is opened. The liquid is a mix of product and liquified gas.
  • Some of the most common propellants in deodorant body spray are hydrocarbons, eg. Butane, isobutane, propane.
  • Benzene is not intentionally added but appears as a contaminant while adding the other hydrocarbons.

 

Regulations on Chemicals used in Industries

  • Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH): A European Union regulation, REACH addresses the production and use of chemical substances, and their potential impacts on both human health and the environment.
  • The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA): It a US law that requires reporting, record-keeping and testing requirements, and restrictions relating to chemical substances.
  • Chemical Regulation in India: There is currently no REACH-like or TSCA-like regulations for chemicals in India. The two sets of regulations related to chemicals are:
    • Manufacture, Storage And Import Of Hazardous Chemical (Amendment) Rules (2000)
    • Ozone Depleting Substance (R&C) Rules (2000)

 

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