Carcinogen Metabolism and Human Cancer

The human population is exposed to numerous chemical carcinogens in the environment, and it is believed that many human cancers are caused by exposure to these chemicals. Examples of carcinogens in our environment include benzo[a]pyrene (BP) and other polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in cigarette smoke, polluted city air and charcoal-broiled meat, aflatoxin in moldy foods and nitrosamines in certain meats treated with nitrite. The first example of an effect of environmental chemicals on the incidence of cancer in man was described in 1775 by Percivall Pott, who noted the occurrence of a high incidence of scrotal cancer in chimney sweeps in . . .