Coal fires, industrial emissions and motor vehicles as sources of environmental carcinogens

One of the most widely studied carcinogenic agents in the environment is the polycyclic hydrocarbon, benzo(a) pyrene. As a component of soot from the inefficient combustion of coal, its association with cancer can be traced back 200 years, but its possible relevance to lung cancer as a widely distributed air relevance to lung cancer as a widely distributed air pollutant has been investigated only during the past 25 years. Domestic coal fires have been shown to be important sources, and smaller amounts come from industrial sources and from motor vehicles. There is evidence now that the concentration of benzo (a) pyrene in large towns in Britain has decreased by a factor of about ten during the last few decades, as a result of changing heating methods and smoke control. In view of the overwhelming effect of cigarette smoking, it is difficult to determine whether the benzo(a)pyrene content of the air has had any importnat effect on the development of lung cancer, but careful analysis of trends in mortality may now throw some light on this. Among other materials with carcinogenic properties that may be dispersed into the general air, asbestos is the one that has been investigated most thoroughly. The association between exposure to asbestos and the development of lung cancer and mesothelioma of the pleura has been clearly demonstrated among people occupationally exposed to the dust, but as far as the general public is concerned, any risk may be limited to the immediate vicinity of major sources. These and other hazards demonstrated among occupational gropus serve as a warning however to maintain careful scutiny of urban air pollutants in relation to the acetiology of cancer.