The experimental induction of cancer by pesticide residues and food additives: its rationale and interpretation

Abstract

The desirability of excluding potentially carcinogenic substances from the human environment is unquestionable. However, those who rise in indignation over the apparent resistance or dilatory attitude of industry toward subjecting every suspected carcinogen to exhaustive animal tests are generally unaware of how recently there has been even provisional agreement among scientists as to what tests are appropriate, how much time and effort are involved in such studies, and the uncertainties associated with relating the findings in animals to practical conditions of human exposure.

Presented in essential part at the 139th Annual Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Division of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, St. Louis, Missouri, March, 1961.