Professor Ashok Venkitaraman director of the Medical Research Council, Cancer Unit at Cambridge University has conducted research into common carcinogens and concluded a host of ‘aldehydes’ commonly found in toiletry, personal care and around the home are linked to cancer.
It has long been established that formaldehyde and acetaldehyde are class A carcinogens – known to cause cancer in humans. They are listed at IARC and the World Health Organisation, and on the US Environmental Protection Agency’s lists. None the less, his research has been criticized by a number of ‘experts’.
Venkitaraman’s team found that aldehydes had a DNA damaging effect, and concluded this was extremely worrying given their presence in so many everyday products.
Despite Governments setting safe limits, these chemicals can aggregate, rendering safe limits meaningless. There was particular concern where people were born with a genetic mutation, giving them only one reliable gene.
His points are well made. We previously convered a UCLA study which gave back packs to teenagers and followed their lives for 2 weeks. The back packs had a filtration and collection system. The researchers were looking for the effects of benzene from petrol fumes in L.A. and New York.
However, after 2 weeks benzene came only third. Top was formaldehyde, showing clearly the cumulative effect. Second was dichlorobenzene, found commonly in air fresheners, which has been linked to a number of health issues.