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Mutagenicity: Assays and Applications presents an extensive examination of the detection, assessment and future of mutagenicity, particularly as it concerns human health and the environment. Chapters focused on specific types of mutagens or testing methods for their detection collectively explore the current state of human and environmental mutagenesis, future perspectives and regulatory needs. The test procedures for measuring mutagenicity, their advantages and limitations are described with practical and procedural detail, along with their presentation and data processing aspects. It is an essential reference covering the breadth and depth of the field of mutagenicity studies and regulation. By providing both important introductory material and practical assays and applications, this book is useful to graduate students, academic and industry researchers and regulators at various stages of their careers, leading to improved risk assessment and regulation. - Presents an up-to-date and in-depth review of the current state of mutagenesis research - Draws upon the combined experience and expertise of an international group of highly respected editors and chapter authors - Provides an introduction to the concept of mutagenesis with particular consideration given to novel chemicals and materials

Despite increasing knowledge of human nutrition, the dietary contribution to cancer remains a troubling question. Carcinogens and Anticarcinogens assembles the best available information on the magnitude of potential cancer riskâ€"and potential anticarcinogenic effectâ€"from naturally occurring chemicals compared with risk from synthetic chemical constituents. The committee draws important conclusions about diet and cancer, including the carcinogenic role of excess calories and fat, the anticarcinogenic benefit of fiber and other substances, and the impact of food additive regulation. The book offers recommendations for epidemiological and diet research. Carcinogens and Anticarcinogens provides a readable overview of issues and addresses critical questions: Does diet contribute to an appreciable proportion of human cancer? Are there significant interactions between carcinogens and anticarcinogens in the diet? The volume discusses the mechanisms of carcinogenic and anticarcinogenic properties and considers whether techniques used to evaluate the carcinogenic potential of synthetics can be used with naturally occurring chemicals. The committee provides criteria for prioritizing the vast number of substances that need to be tested. Carcinogens and Anticarcinogens clarifies the issues and sets the direction for further investigations into diet and cancer. This volume will be of interest to anyone involved in food and health issues: policymakers, regulators, researchers, nutrition professionals, and health advocates.

During the early 1930s, when I was a graduate student and later a post-doctoral researcher at the National Research Council for the University of Wisconsin at Madison, we had the opportunity to get acquainted with many graduate students from China who were sent to the University for training in modern basic sciences as well as social sciences. The University of Wisconsin continues to graduate a large number of Chinese students. Economic conditions in the 1930s were very precarious for the United States and other parts of the world. Many of us students grew closer together because we were living on similarly tight budgets. As a matter of fact, we subleased a part of our apartment in Madison to some Chinese graduate students. This was a very nice opportunity for us to learn about the scientific and cultural back ground of our Chinese friends. Many of them came from the interior of China and had had very little opportunity to become acquainted with people from a western culture. Living with these students was a very pleasant and educational experience which gave us a good pic ture of the cultural life and educational system of China at that time--an intimate picture that one normally would not see without travelling in that country.

This book describes many different kinds of mutagens that are detected in food, and also discusses various ways to suppress their formation and activities. The mutagens discussed include those of natural origin, those caused by human manipulation of food (e.g., cooking and adding preservatives), and those formed after food has been consumed (e.g., nitrosamines). Other topics include mutagenesis and mutagen-formation inhibitors, contemporary mutagen detection methods, the fate of ingested mutagens, and risk assessments for mutagens as human carcinogens. The book emphasizes cooked-food mutagens, especially the heterocyclic amines, because of their potential as human carcinogens. Researchers and students concerned with mutagens in food will consider this book to be valuable additions to their reference libraries.

The importance of environmental factors in the etiology of the major degener ative diseases, including cancers, is now generaIly accepted. Evidence obtained from studies with experimental animals and from human populations associates nutritional factors and dietary constituents with the causation of cancers at differ ent sites in the body. Estimates by epidemiologists based on comparisons of various population groups have indicated that as much as 50% of the cancer mortality may be influenced by diet. An important indicator is found in migrants to the United States or to other countries who develop the spectrum of cancers typical for the United States (or other countries) but different from that reported for their native country. About 20% of aIl deaths (450,000 per year) in the United States are caused by cancer. In addition, as the population grows the number of cancer cases steadily increases, but the age-adjusted total cancer incidence and mortality rates for sites other than the respiratory tract (cancers primarily attributable to cigarette smoking) have remained stable during the last 30 to 40 years. If one-half of these cancers are associated with dietary practices, an understanding of the process could save about 225,000 lives each year. The causes of cancer have been an important area of cancer research for many years. Certainly if one understands how the diet or the environment affects cancer, great insights might be gained into the mechanisms of cancer as weIl.