This volume of the IARC Monographs provides evaluations of the carcinogenicity of bitumens and their emissions, the N-heterocyclic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons benz[a]acridine, benz[c]acridine, dibenz[a,h]acridine, dibenz[a,j]acridine, dibenz[c,h]acridine, carbazole and 7H-dibenzo[c,g]carbazole, as well as the S-hetrocyclic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons benzo[b]naphtho[2,1-d]thiophene and dibenzothiophene. Bitumens are produced by distillation of crude oil during petroleum refining, and also occur naturally. Bitumens can be divided into six broad classes, according to their physical properties and specifications required for different applications. The major use (about 80%) of bitumens is for road paving; other uses include roofing, waterproofing, sealing and painting. The term "bitumen" should not be confused with "asphalt", which refers to the mixture of bitumen (4-10% by weight), small stones, sand and filler used for road paving. Bitumens are complex mixtures that contain a large number of organic chemical compounds. Application of bitumens may generate emissions (fumes and vapours) that may contain, among volatile and non-volatile compounds, a number of known or probable carcinogens. An IARC Monographs Working Group reviewed epidemiological evidence, animal bioassays, and mechanistic and other relevant data to reach conclusions as to the carcinogenic hazard to humans of various occupations that entail exposure to bitumens and bitumen emissions, including road paving, roofing, and application of mastic asphalt, and to various heterocyclic polycyclic aromatic compounds.

On cover: IPCS International Programme on Chemical Safety. Published under the joint sponsorship of the United Nations Environment Programme, the International Labour Organization and the World Health Organization, and produced within the framework of the Inter-organization Programme for the Sound Management of Chemicals (IOMC)

“This disturbing but very important book makes clear we must dig deeper than the normal solutions we are offered.”—Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia Works "Bright Green Lies exposes the hypocrisy and bankruptcy of leading environmental groups and their most prominent cheerleaders. The best-known environmentalists are not in the business of speaking truth, or even holding up rational solutions to blunt the impending ecocide, but instead indulge in a mendacious and self-serving delusion that provides comfort at the expense of reality. They fail to state the obvious: We cannot continue to wallow in hedonistic consumption and industrial expansion and survive as a species. The environmental debate, Derrick Jensen and his coauthors argue, has been distorted by hubris and the childish desire by those in industrialized nations to sustain the unsustainable. All debates about environmental policy need to begin with honoring and protecting, not the desires of the human species, but with the sanctity of the Earth itself. We refuse to ask the right questions because these questions expose a stark truth—we cannot continue to live as we are living. To do so is suicidal folly. ‘Tell me how you seek, and I will tell you what you are seeking,’ the German philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein said. This is the power of Bright Green Lies: It asks the questions most refuse to ask, and in that questioning, that seeking, uncovers profound truths we ignore at our peril.”—Chris Hedges, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of America: The Farewell Tour

An evaluation of the health effects and other relevant data since pub. of the 1977 NIOSH "Criteria for a Recommended Standard: Occupational Exposure to Asphalt Fumes." Includes an assessment of chemistry, health, and exposure data from studies in animals and humans exposed to raw asphalt, paving and roofing asphalt fume condensates, and asphalt-based paints. Will serve as to identify future research to reduce occupational exposures to asphalt. Chapters: no. of workers potentially exposed; physical and chemical properties; exposure; human health effects; experimental studies; research needs; uses and applications; summary of occupational exposure data; and respirators.

The Global Theological Ethics book series focuses on works that feature authors from around the world, draw on resources from the traditions of Catholic Theological Ethics, and attend to concrete issues facing the world today.