Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 7, 2026

Vinyl Chloride and High-Fat Diet as a Model of Environment and Obesity Interaction
Published on: January 12, 2020
Cancer and occupational exposure to pentachlorophenol and tetrachlorophenol (Canada)
Paul A Demers1, Hugh W Davies, Melissa C Friesen
1School of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. pdemers@interchange.ubc.ca
Objective:
The objective of this study is to assess the carcinogenicity of pentachlorophenol and tetrachlorophenol using data from the BC sawmill workers cohort study.
Methods:
The cohort consisted of 27,464 men employed by 14 sawmills for 1 year or more between 1950 and 1995. Fatal (1950-1995) and incident (1969-1995) cancers were identified using national registries. Plant records and systematic interviews with senior employees were used to estimate dermal exposure. Comparisons were made with the general BC population and dose-response relationships were assessed using Poisson regression.
Results:
There were 1,495 fatal cancer and 2,571 incident cancers. There were no large or statistically significant excesses of any of the specific cancers were observed compared to the general population. Internal analyses showed strong dose-response relationships for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and kidney cancer. These relationships were strongest when exposure was restricted to pentachlorophenol. The strength of the dose-response increased when exposure was lagged by 20 years.
Conclusions:
Dermal exposure to pentachlorophenol was associated with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and kidney cancer, but not with other cancers of a priori interest.
More Related Videos
04:12Chemical-Induced Skin Carcinogenesis Model Using Dimethylbenz[a]Anthracene and 12-O-Tetradecanoyl Phorbol-13-Acetate (DMBA-TPA)
Published on: December 19, 2019
16:02Demonstration of the Sequence Alignment to Predict Across Species Susceptibility Tool for Rapid Assessment of Protein Conservation
Published on: February 10, 2023
Related Concept Videos
Cancer Prevention
Some...
Mutagenicity and Carcinogenicity
Skin Cancer
Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC): BCC is the most common type of skin cancer, accounting for about 80% of cases. It typically develops in...
Cancer-Critical Genes I: Proto-oncogenes
When the function of certain critical genes, especially those involved in cell cycle regulation and cell growth signaling cascades, gets disrupted, it upsets the cell cycle progression. Such cells with unchecked cell cycles start proliferating uncontrollably and eventually develop into tumors.
Such genes that act...
Toxicity Testing in Animals
Treatment Resistent Cancers