New Carcinogens

The two new known carcinogens are aristolochic acids and formaldehyde.

Aristolochic acids are the active ingredient in a number of unsafe herbal remedies. 

Formaldehyde is used to manufacture a wide range of products. The most common source of formaldehyde exposure is cigarette smoke. Cars and wood stoves give off formaldehyde, but most exposure comes from indoor air. New home finishing products and consumer goods such as some hair-smoothing/straightening products, cleaning agents, and glues may contain formaldehyde.

The six agents anticipated to be carcinogens are:

• Styrene, a compound used to make polystyrene. Disposable cups made from polystyrene leach small amounts of styrene,
• Captafol, a fungicide once commonly used in agriculture but no longer produced after 1987 or used after 2006 in the U.S.
• Cobalt-tungsten carbide (in powder or hard metal form) is used to make hard-metal tools. The major source of exposure is from plants manufacturing such products.
• Certain inhalable glass wool fibers used in air filters or as insulation. The type of glass wool used for insulation and filtration may be less dangerous than the special kind used for manufacturing.
• O-nitrotoluene is used in the manufacture of dyes, its most exposures come from air or ground pollution.
• Riddelliine is a plant compound found in a type of daisy found in the Western U.S. and in other parts of the world, which has been used accidentally in medicinal herbs and may contaminate the milk of cows that graze on the plants.