Cancer is a terrible disease that can only be cured in the very initial stages. Where does he come from? Scientists have already figured out dozens of reasons, and hundreds more have not yet been determined. Of the genuinely known, the most dangerous "culprit" of the disease is ionized radiation. X-rays, radiation, excessive tanning are his usual everyday sources. But even those who live away from nuclear power plants do not like to sunbathe and do not take x-rays, they are not protected from cancer. It can be caused by many food products and materials containing one or another carcinogenic substance. Consider the most dangerous.
Carcinogens and mutagens
Modern people, especially residents of large industrial centers, live in a complex environment, the atmosphere, water and soil of which contain a lot of chemical compounds.
Many of them are deadly, such as carcinogens. This is such a group of chemical elements that provokes the growth of
cancer cells. Another group of substances can cause changes at the DNA level, which leads to various mutations in the organs of living things. Such carcinogens and mutagens with automobile
exhaust gases , from the drain and gas pipes of enterprises, with smoke coming from the burning of waste in landfills, enter the environment. They are in food and in everyday items. In our technical age, it is unlikely to completely isolate ourselves from all harmful substances, but you can try to minimize contact with them.
Nitrates, nitrites, nitrosamines
The “terrible” word “nitrates” is familiar to almost everyone as a powerful carcinogen. However, they are indispensable in agriculture as fertilizers needed by plants, especially for greenhouse vegetables.
There are especially many of them. Nitrates alone are not so dangerous. The harm from them occurs because, once in our body, they turn into nitrosamines and nitrites. These are already very poisonous. Nitrite can also be independently contained in natural products and added to industrial products, such as sausages, to give them a "meat" color. They are designated E250. Nitrites strongly affect hemoglobin, impairing its ability to deliver oxygen to cells and remove carbon dioxide from them, which means they disrupt respiration. Nitrosamines cause the growth of cancer cells. You can reduce the nitrate content as follows:
- withstand vegetables in water for a couple of hours;
- peel;
- blanch in hot water;
- salt, pickle.
Nutritional Supplements and Other Hazardous Products
When buying food, you must always study their composition. For example, the additive E123, or amaranth, in the United States is recognized as a carcinogen and is prohibited in the food industry.
Amaranth is a dye and is used not only in food, but also in leather, textile, and paper industries. In some countries, such as England, it is not prohibited.
The second supplement is E121, or citrus red. This yellow-orange powder is also recognized as a carcinogen. In Russia, its use is prohibited. Carcinogens also include a special type of fungus producing aflatoxins. They are recognized as “leaders” in carcinogenicity, mainly causing liver cancer. They live on moldy products, especially on peanuts, pumpkin seeds, and stale tea. They are also found in the milk of animals that feed on “sick” food. It should be borne in mind that heat treatment does not kill these mushrooms. Another dangerous substance we often encounter is peroxides. They are present in rancid fats (for example, butter), in vegetable oils that are reused for frying.
Benzapyrenes
These carcinogens cause cancer in animals and humans, and are also known as powerful mutagens. They are dangerous even in small doses. They have one bad ability to accumulate in the body, in water, in anything, and also to move from one object to another without any damage to themselves.
As a result, many environmental objects that were “clean” also become hazardous. Benzapyrene can enter the body with breathing and food (the norm is 1 μg per kg of product for adults and 0.2 μg for children and nursing). His sources:
- cigarette smoke (each one piece is 0.09 mgk / kg);
- emissions of vehicles;
- smoke from fuel combustion;
- cereals;
- fats;
- edible oils;
- smoked fish;
- dark chocolate (from 0.08 to 0.6 μg / kg);
- coffee;
- highly fried meat (grilled meat).
Carcinogens in the atmosphere
The air surrounding us contains many of the substances that adversely affect humans. Benzene is one of the most famous. It is present in gasoline, used for the production of plastics, rubber, medicines, dyes. Inhalation of its vapor causes poisoning and can lead to leukemia. Dioxins are not so known, but even more dangerous. These carcinogens cause impaired embryo development, immune suppression (chemical AIDS), cancer, and gene mutations. It can be ingested with food, air, through the skin, with breast milk and through the placenta. Some very harmful substances are released into the air when burning garbage, coal, food waste, when smoking, with exhaust fumes. Benzatracene is one of them. This carcinogen is especially abundant in industrial areas where factory chimneys smoke around the clock. It penetrates the body not only through breathing, but also through the skin and can cause cancer of the liver, lungs, gastrointestinal tract. The products of its oxidation are 100 times more carcinogenic than benzene.
Dangerous items of daily life
In everyday life, we are also surrounded by mutagenic and carcinogenic substances. Formaldehyde is well known to many. It has antiseptic properties, which is why it is used in medicine (for example, the Formagel medication) and cosmetology as part of some antiperspirants and oral hygiene products. In the food industry, formaldehyde is used to increase the shelf life of products and is called E240. Formalin (formaldehyde solution) in large quantities can cause poisoning, and a dose of 60 g is considered fatal. Its carcinogenicity for animals is absolutely proven. The effect on the person is being specified.
The second common carcinogen is vinyl chloride. It is used for the production of vinyl, from which they make famous vinyl wallpapers, linoleum and a bunch of other useful and necessary things. The harm from them is being clarified for the time being, although it is known for certain that vinyl wallpapers contribute to the formation of fungus on the walls. But vinyl materials are especially harmful when heated and burned, because then the aforementioned dioxins are released into the air.
And finally, asbestos. Its kind of chrysotile is used in the manufacture of pipes, plates, heat insulators, roofs, wall panels, bricks, mastics and much more. The carcinogenicity of asbestos for humans has been fully proven, therefore, in many countries its use is prohibited.