Warning: Five metals are likely to cause cancer

The first report of a metal element causing cancer was a case report of arsenic in 1888. Over the past 100 years, some metal elements have been confirmed to cause cancer in humans, and this phenomenon has attracted great attention from the medical community.

The following mainly introduces the situation of 5 carcinogenic metals:

arsenic

Arsenic was the first element proven to be carcinogenic to humans. In the late 1980s, reports confirmed that arsenic can cause skin cancer and lung cancer. Some people believe that arsenic is not only the initiator of cancer, but also a promoter. Older people and younger people are more sensitive to the carcinogenicity of arsenic, and the former have a shorter latent period after exposure to arsenic. When the exposure to arsenic dust particles is high, its carcinogenicity decreases, and vice versa, its carcinogenicity increases sharply. This is because when the exposure to arsenic dust particles is high, the ciliary movement of the tracheal and bronchial mucosa is enhanced, which can eliminate arsenic dust particles and better protect carcinogenic tissues. Conversely, when low-dose dust has not yet triggered the elimination function of cilia, long-term exposure to such an environment will result in greater actual intake and a stronger carcinogenic effect. Therefore, when determining carcinogenic effects, the exposure duration is more important than the exposure intensity.

chromium

As early as 1890, people realized that chromium compounds are carcinogenic to humans. In the late 1940s, scholars from various countries conducted many studies and reports. The most clear evidence came from the chromate production and chromate pigment manufacturing and application industries. The United States has reported that the lung cancer mortality rate among workers producing chromates increased 30 times, and the incidence of lung cancer among workers in the German pigment manufacturing industry is also high. Animal experiments have found that calcium chromate, zinc chromate, strontium chromate and lead chromate can all induce cancer and cause cancer. Chromium is the only metal that is convincingly genotoxic; its toxicity depends on its oxidation state and solubility; only chromates with low solubility are carcinogenic.

nickel

In 1932, lung cancer and nasopharyngeal cancer were discovered among nickel smelting workers in Britain and Wales. Early scholars believed that carcinogenic nickel compounds were mainly carbon-based nickel, but recently most scholars believe that nickel-containing dust is the main carcinogen. Soluble nickel compounds have small particles and are in the form of aerosols, which can easily reach the lungs and cause lung cancer. Insoluble nickel compounds are in the form of dust and have large particles, which can easily remain in the nasal cavity. In addition to causing lung cancer, they can also cause nasopharyngeal cancer. When the two exist at the same time, they have a combined effect and the risk of cancer is greatly enhanced.

beryllium

Epidemiological reports on the carcinogenicity of beryllium to humans did not begin to appear until the early 1980s, attracting widespread attention from scholars. At seven beryllium plants in the United States, lung cancer mortality rates were significantly elevated among 9,000 workers. Follow-up observations also found that the death rate from lung cancer was significantly increased, especially among workers who had suffered from acute beryllium pneumonia. Animal experiments have confirmed that repeated infusion of metallic beryllium, beryllium oxide, beryllium hydroxide, etc. into the trachea of ​​rats and monkeys can induce lung cancer.

cadmium

In 1965, the UK first reported that a large number of workers in nickel-cadmium battery factories suffered from prostate cancer. Subsequent research results showed that workers exposed to cadmium have an increased risk of lung cancer. In 1985, a large-scale survey was conducted among workers in 17 cadmium production plants in the UK, which showed that the workers' lung cancer mortality rate was increasing and tended to increase with increasing working time and exposure intensity. Animal experiments have also confirmed that cadmium dust or cadmium compounds are a factor in inducing lung cancer.