This volume of the IARC Monographs provides evaluations of the consumption of red meat and the consumption of processed meat. Red meat refers to unprocessed mammalian muscle meat (e.g. beef, veal, pork, lamb) including that which may be minced or frozen. Processed meat refers to meat that has been transformed through salting, curing, fermentation, smoking or other processes to enhance flavor or improve preservation. Most processed meats contain pork or beef, but may also contain other meats including poultry and offal (e.g. liver) or meat by-products such as blood. Red meat contains proteins of high biological value, and important micronutrients such as B vitamins, iron (both free iron and haem iron), and zinc. Carcinogens, including heterocyclic aromatic amines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, can be produced by cooking of meat, with greatest amounts generated at high temperatures by pan-frying, grilling, or barbecuing. Meat processing such as curing and smoking can result in formation of carcinogenic chemicals including N-nitroso compounds and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. 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 the consumption of red meat and processed meat. The Working Group assessed more than 800 epidemiological studies that investigated the association of cancer (more than 15 types) with consumption of red meat or processed meat, including large cohorts in many countries, from several continents, with diverse ethnicities and diets.

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.

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.

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

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.

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 is designed to collect and review the research covering main directions in investigations of aromatic nitroso compounds in last decades, and to present both, the academic aspects of this chemistry, as well as the open field of its applicability. The book is divided in five chapters. The basic structural properties of the nitroso aromatic molecules are described in the first chapter. The second chapter is an overview of the methods of preparations of aromatic nitroso and polynitroso compounds, including classical synthetic methods and some new preparative approaches. The third part deals with the physico-chemical properties of nitroso aromates and azodioxides, its structure, crystallography, quantum chemical calculations, spectroscopy, typical reactions, and especially it is focused on the dimerizations in the solid-state. In the fourth chapter is represented organometallic chemistry of nitroso aromatic molecules and its applications in catalysis. The last part of the book deals with the behavior of this class of compounds in the biological systems, reactions with biomolecules and the use in toxicology.