This eighty-ninth volume of the IARC Monographs is the third and last of a series on tobacco-related agents. Volume 83 reported on the carcinogenicity of tobacco smoke and involuntary smoking (second-hand smoke or environmental tobacco smoke) (IARC 2004a). Volume 85 summarized the evidence on the carcinogenic risk of chewing betel quid with and without tobacco (IARC 2004b). That volume explored the variety of products chewed in South Asia and other parts of the word that contain areca nut in combination with other ingredients, often including tobacco. In this eighty-ninth volume, the carcinogenic risks associated with the use of smokeless tobacco, including chewing tobacco and snuff, are considered in a first monograph. The second monograph reviews some tobacco-specific nitrosamines. These agents were evaluated earlier in Volume 37 of the Monographs (IARC 1985) and information gathered since that time has been summarized and evaluated.

This remarkable book provides updates on various aspects of tobacco - its chemical and biological nature, and its physiological effects.

A working group of sixteen experts from seven countries re-evaluated the evidence of the carcinogenicity of betel-quid and areca-nut chewing and some areca-nut related nitrosamines. Betel-quid and areca-nut chewing are widely practised in many parts of Asia and in Asian-migrant communities elsewhere in the world. There are hundreds of millions of users worldwide. They evaluated betel quid with tobacco as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1) on the basis of sufficient evidence of an increased risk of cancer of the oral cavity, pharynx and oesophagus. The working group reviewed epidemiological studies of human cancer, mainly studies from India, Pakistan and Taiwan (China). Studies on betel quid with tobacco and areca nut with tobacco in experimental animals now also provide sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity. The working group also evaluated betel quid without tobacco as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1), on the basis of sufficient evidence of an increased risk of oral cancer. Studies on betel quid without tobacco and areca nut without tobacco in experimental animals now also provide sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity. Areca nut, a common ingredient of betel quid and many different chewing preparations, including those available commercially, has been observed to cause oral submucous fibrosis

Originally published in 1992, this volume looks in depth at the carcinogenic properties of N-nitroso compounds. These compounds occur widely in smoked foods and in meat and fish cured with nitrates; they are also formed in some industrial processes and in addition are found in cosmetics, tobacco and tobacco smoke. By focusing on the chemical and biological properties, the volume attempts to explain how these compounds exert their carcinogenic potential and, furthermore, goes on to explain how apparently harmless precursors such as nitrates and amines are transformed to produce carcinogens.

Investigates the compound formation, bioactivation, and detoxification of the N-nitroso group of compounds, which increasingly appears to be implicated in human carcinogenesis. The topics include exposure, formation, and blocking; nitric oxide; nitrosamine; toxic, mutagenic, and carcinogenic effects; and reactive intermediates. The 45 papers largely report on research rather than review the literature. The symposium that occasioned them was in Washington, DC, in August 1992. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Meat has been treated for centuries with rock salt as a means of preservation. However, only one century has passed since the German researchers, Polenske in 1891, Kisshalt in 1899, and Lehmann in 1899, discovered that the active component in the curing process was nitrite. Soon after the role of nitrite as a meat curing agent was revealed, government regulators placed guidelines on the level of nitrite and nitrate permitted for use in cured meat formulations. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the development of the so-called "nitrite problem" surfaced because of the detection of N-nitrosamines in processed meats. The industry was in an uproar and the issue was of paramount interest to scientists and the public. A major technical advance in the analytical technique for N-nitrosamine detection was achieved when Thermo Electron of Waltham, Massachusetts introduced the thermal energy analyzer (TEA). This unit allowed the screening of a large number of samples for nitrosamine with only a minimum preparation. The role of nitrite in revealing the desired and unique flavor of cured products, perhaps by suppressing the formation of lipid oxidation products was another development in revealing other properties of nitrite. Above all, the antimicrobial role of nitrite, together with salt, had a major influence on the popularity of nitrite/nitrate in food preservation. This book provides a review of the desirable attributes which sodium nitrite confers to meat during processing, as well as drawbacks of nitrite usage, i.e., the presence of N-nitrosoamines. In addition, solutions for the curing of meat without the use of nitrite are presented. An examination of a multicomponent nitrite-free curing system entailing the color, flavor, and microbial protection of such a system is given.