Industrialization and Cancer Risks
AbstractCancer is one of the most important health problems today, due to high incidence of mortality. Approximately 7.6 million people die from cancer every year in the world and the cancer incidence increases over time. Beside life style-related factors, environmental factors affect cancer development. According to the World Health Organization, new chemical substances are synthesized every year without adequate investigation about their toxicity. Among industrial workers, an increase has been observed in bladder and other organ cancers, especially lung cancer. Studies find increased incidence of lung cancer among workers in iron mines, steel foundries and industries in which workers are exposed to iron oxides such as the iron and steel industry. Most studies state the exposure to metal fumes, crystalline silica dust and pyrolysis products emitted under heat, particularly polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) used in iron and steel industry cause cancer. There are also some studies which state that there is no clear relationship between the risk of cancer and the industrialism. In this review, the relationship between industrialization and cancer risk is discussed in the light of current literature