What is the most carcinogenic substance?
Aside from radiation, what should I stay away from?
I assume some type of radiation could give me cancer in short order. Is there anything else that I could get cancer from in short order like swallowing a pint of gasoline every day or some thing of the sort. It seems as if everything can cause cancer. What I want to know is, what really will?
Aflatoxins can grow on things like peanuts stored poorly and are highly carcinogenic as well as just plain toxic at higher doses/
“aflatoxin B1 is 1000 times more potent as a carcinogen when compared to benzo pyrene ( Eaton. et al 1997). IARC has classified Aflatoxin as a group one carcinogen ( IARC 7th annual report on Carcinogens, 1987).”
Yep - lots of people in the UK were complaining over Christmas of the lack of in-shell nuts. Basically, the rules on testing for aflatoxins mean that no-one can sell nuts in the shell in the UK as it is too hard to test. I keep being told I should not eat peanuts at all (chronic Hep B + aflatoxin exposure = v. high chance of liver cancer, alcohol abuse would make this almost a dead cert, but I restrict my booze intake severely), but I love them nuts.
Si
Yes, I heard something on the radio about problems with Brazil nuts in … um Brazil.
Basically they were not testing the nuts and/or getting dodgy certificates so consignments were turning up in Europe and getting rejected.
The solution seems to be to shell them in Brazil, which seems pretty obvious to me as labour is a lot cheaper out there.
The sun?
Asbestos dust would be up there a bit wouldnt it?
Otara
WOW!
That is kinda scary I did not realize that peanuts could be so dangerous.
Does the toxicity build up over time.
Wikipedia
Are there any other Carcinogens I should be on the look out for?
I was really thinking the list would contain some obscure chemicals from oil refining or burning plastic.
try this one - (bottom article)
http://www.pacfuel.com/health.htm
“The compound, 3-nitrobenzanthrone, produced the highest score ever reported in a Ames test, a standard measure of the cancer-causing potential of toxic chemicals”. In diesel fumes
I believe accidentaly inhaling a pollen grain-sized particle of uranium or plutonium would lead to a stunningly high probability of lung cancer.
Well, cigarette smoke is pretty bad for you. I’ve also read about BBQ’d meat or meat which has been cooked at high heat, particularly when it’s browned quite dark, pickles, and meats prepared with nitrites. I think asking what the ‘most’ carcinogenic substance is isn’t going to help all that much since most of the real baddies have been removed or aren’t allowed in products that people use regularly.
That’s technically radiation.
I beleive this is due to polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Shagnasty mentioned benzopyrene, that is a PAH. Polyaromatic hydrocarbons are made at high temperature in low oxygen conditions. They can be found in soot and smoke.
And it’s probably the most delicious carcinogen in the world!
It’s due to heterocyclic amines accoring to this