Seventeen pollutants (particles, heavy metals, inorganic gasses and organic compounds) are for the first time analyzed in a screening of the carcinogenic risk at very high resolution and large scale in ambient air in the Nordic countries. Modelled 2010 annual mean air concentrations show no exceedances of the EU air quality values. The only exceedance of US-EPA 1:100,000 cancer risk concentrations occurs for the PAH BaP in Denmark. However, the EU target value threshold for BaP is not exceeded. No emission data for BaP are available for the other countries and important uncertainties are still related to the Danish emissions. Long-range transport is significant except for BaP that originates mostly from residential wood combustion. It is recommended to monitor the influence from residential wood combustion more extensively, and to analyze longer time trends for long-term human exposure.

Though overall cancer incidence and mortality have continued to decline in recent years, cancer continues to devastate the lives of far too many Americans. In 2009 alone, 1.5 million American men, women, and children were diagnosed with cancer, and 562,000 died from the disease. There is a growing body of evidence linking environmental exposures to cancer. The Pres. Cancer Panel dedicated its 2008¿2009 activities to examining the impact of environmental factors on cancer risk. The Panel considered industrial, occupational, and agricultural exposures as well as exposures related to medical practice, military activities, modern lifestyles, and natural sources. This report presents the Panel¿s recommend. to mitigate or eliminate these barriers. Illus.

This volume of the IARC Monographs provides evaluations of the carcinogenicity of diesel and gasoline engine exhausts, and of 10 nitroarenes found in diesel engine exhaust: 3,7-dinitrofluoranthene, 3,9-dinitrofluoranthene, 1,3-dinitropyrene, 1,6-dinitropyrene, 1,8-dinitropyrene, 6-nitrochrysene, 2-nitrofluorene, 1-nitropyrene, 4-nitropyrene, and 3-nitrobenzanthrone. Diesel engines are used for transport on and off roads (e.g. passenger cars, buses, trucks, trains, ships), for machinery in various industrial sectors (e.g. mining, construction), and for electricity generators, particularly in developing countries. Gasoline engines are used in cars and hand-held equipment (e.g. chainsaws). The emissions from such combustion engines comprise a complex and varying mixture of gases (e.g. carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides), particles (e.g. PM10, PM2.5, ultrafine particles, elemental carbon, organic carbon, ash, sulfate, and metals), volatile organic compunds (e.g. benzene, formaldehyde) and semi-volatile organic compounds (e.g. polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) including oxygenated and nitrated derivatives of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Diesel and gasoline engines thus make a significant contribution to a broad range of air pollutants to which people are exposed in the general population as well as in different occupational settings. 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 environmental or occupational exposure to diesel and gasoline engine exhausts (including those associated with the mining, railroad, construction, and transportation industries) and to 10 selected nitroarenes. -- Back cover.

This report considers the biological and behavioral mechanisms that may underlie the pathogenicity of tobacco smoke. Many Surgeon General's reports have considered research findings on mechanisms in assessing the biological plausibility of associations observed in epidemiologic studies. Mechanisms of disease are important because they may provide plausibility, which is one of the guideline criteria for assessing evidence on causation. This report specifically reviews the evidence on the potential mechanisms by which smoking causes diseases and considers whether a mechanism is likely to be operative in the production of human disease by tobacco smoke. This evidence is relevant to understanding how smoking causes disease, to identifying those who may be particularly susceptible, and to assessing the potential risks of tobacco products.

This book presents WHO guidelines for the protection of public health from risks due to a number of chemicals commonly present in indoor air. The substances considered in this review, i.e. benzene, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, naphthalene, nitrogen dioxide, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (especially benzo[a]pyrene), radon, trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene, have indoor sources, are known in respect of their hazardousness to health and are often found indoors in concentrations of health concern. The guidelines are targeted at public health professionals involved in preventing health risks of environmental exposures, as well as specialists and authorities involved in the design and use of buildings, indoor materials and products. They provide a scientific basis for legally enforceable standards.

"This publication represents the views and expert opinions of an IARC Working Group on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risk to Humans, which met in Lyon, 8-15 October 2013."