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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Carcinogenic risks of polycyclic organic matter (POM)

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:5292950
Many combustion emissions and related complex mixtures containing polycyclic organic matter (POM) are carcinogenic to humans. A comparative potency method has been developed to estimate the human cancer risk from POM sources. This method involves evaluating the tumorigenic potencies of POM from the selected source in the relation to other POM sources that have been shown to cause lung cancer in humans. The mouse skin tumor-initiation bioassay provides the best correlation with the human cancer unit risks for emission sources where quantitative epidemiological results are available. The comparative potency method is presented together with the data developed to test the underlying constant relative potency hypothesis. This hypothesis has been validate for POM from coke ovens, roofing coal tar, and cigarette smoke by comparing the relative lung cancer potency in humans to the relative tumor initiation potency in mouse skin.
Research Organization:
Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC (United States). Health Effects Research Lab.
OSTI ID:
5292950
Report Number(s):
AD-P-008718/9/XAB
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English