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Human carcinogen exposure: Biomonitoring and risk assessment
Fd Chem. Toxic. Vol. 30, No. 4, pp. 341-342, 1992
Pergamon Press Ltd. Printed in Great Britain
REVIEWS OF RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Pesticide Residues and Food SafetymA Harvest of Viewpoints. Edited by B. G. Tweedy, H. J. Dishburger, L. G. Ballantine and J. McCarthy. American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 1991. xv + 360. $34.95. ISBN 0-8412-1906-0 (pbk). This book is a record of the proceedings of a special conference held in Alabama in January 1990. The conference was sponsored by the Division of Agrochemicals of the American Chemical Society to provide a forum for discussion of the issues surrounding food safety and pesticide residues. The major objective was to encourage experts from all sides of the debate to work together, and to arrive at a list of recommendations for improving public confidence in the food supply. Formal conference presentations by experts drawn from the food industry (growers, processors, distributors), chemical industry, regulatory bodies, consumer groups, academia and the media have been divided into nine sections. Topics covered include pesticide use, alternative agriculture, exposure assessment, risk assessment and management, regulatory issues and communication. As might be expected from the sponsor and venue of the conference, much of the book is specific to the USA. This is not to say that there is nothing for the reader from outside America. For instance, the issues surrounding public concern about the safety of pesticide residues in food are common throughout the world; it is the detail that may differ from country to country. Indeed, this book provides a useful overview of the debate for industry, regulators and students alike. Of course, if the reader's sphere of business extends into the USA, the book will be invaluable as an information source. The introductory section defines the goals of the conference, identifies the scope of the pesticide/food safety issue and explains the status of the major US Government programmes addressing pesticide residues and food safety. The second section deals with pesticide use, and debates the issue of reducing use to "only when necessary" as opposed to prophylactic treatment. Further contributions discuss integrated pest management as a way of reducing pesticide use. Technical papers in the fourth section report on developments in the field of analytical methodology to detect and quantify pesticide residues in food. There is interesting discussion on the use of databases and the sharing of information on pesticide residues in order that regulators may achieve more realistic exposure assessments, and this is followed by
a section on risk assessment; the EPA offers two papers on methodology, and another discusses statistical issues. The contributions on risk management are generally critical of the EPA and call for improvements in the decision-making process, whilst space is allowed for the regulators and legislators to air their grievances, present their case and defend their position. The book is rounded offwith the views of three representatives from the media. They offer some advice on the perennial problem of how risk can best be communicated to the general public. [Dr R. E. Briant--DowElanco Europe Agrochemicals Group Chairman] Human Carcinogen Exposure: Biomonitoring and Risk Assessment. Edited by R. C. Garner, P. B. Farmer, G. T. Steel and A. S. Wright. IRL Press at OUP, Oxford, 1991. xiv + 446. £55.00. ISBN 0-19-963185-9. Exposure in the workplace to carcinogens and other toxic chemicals has stimulated analytical chemists and toxicologists to devise intricate techniques for assessing the biological consequences of absorption of chemicals at increasingly early stages of exposure. This book, based on a workshop held in Cambridge, UK, in July 1989, reviews the methodologies for biomonitoring and the interpretation of the analytical and biological data. Biomonitoring may be defined as the assessment of the internal dose of a toxic compound by measurement of the extent of chemical interaction with biological macromolecules such as protein or DNA. The topics covered include the measurement of macromolecular adducts by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, 32p-post-labelling and immunoassays, and methods for assessing chromosomal damage and identifying gene mutations in vivo in human cells. The use of biomonitoring data for risk assessment is examined in a useful chapter on the evaluation of cancer risks from the measurement of N-terminal valine adducts in haemoglobin of individuals who are exposed occupationally to ethylene oxide. The book is divided into three sections. Part I contains 11 review-type chapters followed by, in Part II, the deliberations of five working parties on particular problems in assessing biomonitoring data. They examine, for example, the relationship between protein and D N A adduets, the predictive value of DNA adducts for cancer and mutation, and the
341
342
Reviews of rec~nt publications--Fd Chem. Toxic. Vol. 30, No. 4
relative sensitivity of the various biological and chemical methods. Part III includes 27 poster presentations from the meeting and some concluding remarks. Adducts mentioned include those resulting from occupational exposure (benzo[a]pyrene, acrylonitrile, styrene, aromatic amines, vinyl chloride, ethylene and propylene oxides), those detected from environmental sources (mainly tobacco smoking) and those identified from treatment with anticancer drugs. Overall the book reflects the multidisciplinary approach of the subject and highlights the work of the many groups active in biomonitoring. For the product of such a prestigious publishing house (Oxford University Press) some comments on the sloppy editing of this book (which took 2 years to collate and print) are justified. My copy contained an erratum list with 34 corrections and the list of conference participants, which had been omitted from the bound text. Many printing errors, however, were not spotted. The chapters in part III could have
been more sensibly grouped under particular aspects of biomonitoring (e.g. GC-MS methods, UP-postlabelling techniques and genotoxic methods). David Shuker's chapter on methods for detecting exposure to carcinogens from urine analysis (of e.g. aikylated DNA bases) could have been improved by at least including some structures, if not actual reaction schemes. By contrast, two poster contributions from Professor Golding's group at Newcastle University on the synthesis of some DNA adducts, and the synthesis of polymer-linked guanine for detecting carcinogens in vivo, contain a useful amount of structural detail. These quibbles should not obscure the usefulness of biomonitoring for alerting occupational physicians at an early stage to exposure to carcinogens and other toxic chemicals. The continued development of these techniques and their appraisal through further editions of this book are eagerly awaited. [Rupert Purchaso---BIBRA]
Pergamon Press Ltd. Printed in Great Britain
REVIEWS OF RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Pesticide Residues and Food SafetymA Harvest of Viewpoints. Edited by B. G. Tweedy, H. J. Dishburger, L. G. Ballantine and J. McCarthy. American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 1991. xv + 360. $34.95. ISBN 0-8412-1906-0 (pbk). This book is a record of the proceedings of a special conference held in Alabama in January 1990. The conference was sponsored by the Division of Agrochemicals of the American Chemical Society to provide a forum for discussion of the issues surrounding food safety and pesticide residues. The major objective was to encourage experts from all sides of the debate to work together, and to arrive at a list of recommendations for improving public confidence in the food supply. Formal conference presentations by experts drawn from the food industry (growers, processors, distributors), chemical industry, regulatory bodies, consumer groups, academia and the media have been divided into nine sections. Topics covered include pesticide use, alternative agriculture, exposure assessment, risk assessment and management, regulatory issues and communication. As might be expected from the sponsor and venue of the conference, much of the book is specific to the USA. This is not to say that there is nothing for the reader from outside America. For instance, the issues surrounding public concern about the safety of pesticide residues in food are common throughout the world; it is the detail that may differ from country to country. Indeed, this book provides a useful overview of the debate for industry, regulators and students alike. Of course, if the reader's sphere of business extends into the USA, the book will be invaluable as an information source. The introductory section defines the goals of the conference, identifies the scope of the pesticide/food safety issue and explains the status of the major US Government programmes addressing pesticide residues and food safety. The second section deals with pesticide use, and debates the issue of reducing use to "only when necessary" as opposed to prophylactic treatment. Further contributions discuss integrated pest management as a way of reducing pesticide use. Technical papers in the fourth section report on developments in the field of analytical methodology to detect and quantify pesticide residues in food. There is interesting discussion on the use of databases and the sharing of information on pesticide residues in order that regulators may achieve more realistic exposure assessments, and this is followed by
a section on risk assessment; the EPA offers two papers on methodology, and another discusses statistical issues. The contributions on risk management are generally critical of the EPA and call for improvements in the decision-making process, whilst space is allowed for the regulators and legislators to air their grievances, present their case and defend their position. The book is rounded offwith the views of three representatives from the media. They offer some advice on the perennial problem of how risk can best be communicated to the general public. [Dr R. E. Briant--DowElanco Europe Agrochemicals Group Chairman] Human Carcinogen Exposure: Biomonitoring and Risk Assessment. Edited by R. C. Garner, P. B. Farmer, G. T. Steel and A. S. Wright. IRL Press at OUP, Oxford, 1991. xiv + 446. £55.00. ISBN 0-19-963185-9. Exposure in the workplace to carcinogens and other toxic chemicals has stimulated analytical chemists and toxicologists to devise intricate techniques for assessing the biological consequences of absorption of chemicals at increasingly early stages of exposure. This book, based on a workshop held in Cambridge, UK, in July 1989, reviews the methodologies for biomonitoring and the interpretation of the analytical and biological data. Biomonitoring may be defined as the assessment of the internal dose of a toxic compound by measurement of the extent of chemical interaction with biological macromolecules such as protein or DNA. The topics covered include the measurement of macromolecular adducts by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, 32p-post-labelling and immunoassays, and methods for assessing chromosomal damage and identifying gene mutations in vivo in human cells. The use of biomonitoring data for risk assessment is examined in a useful chapter on the evaluation of cancer risks from the measurement of N-terminal valine adducts in haemoglobin of individuals who are exposed occupationally to ethylene oxide. The book is divided into three sections. Part I contains 11 review-type chapters followed by, in Part II, the deliberations of five working parties on particular problems in assessing biomonitoring data. They examine, for example, the relationship between protein and D N A adduets, the predictive value of DNA adducts for cancer and mutation, and the
341
342
Reviews of rec~nt publications--Fd Chem. Toxic. Vol. 30, No. 4
relative sensitivity of the various biological and chemical methods. Part III includes 27 poster presentations from the meeting and some concluding remarks. Adducts mentioned include those resulting from occupational exposure (benzo[a]pyrene, acrylonitrile, styrene, aromatic amines, vinyl chloride, ethylene and propylene oxides), those detected from environmental sources (mainly tobacco smoking) and those identified from treatment with anticancer drugs. Overall the book reflects the multidisciplinary approach of the subject and highlights the work of the many groups active in biomonitoring. For the product of such a prestigious publishing house (Oxford University Press) some comments on the sloppy editing of this book (which took 2 years to collate and print) are justified. My copy contained an erratum list with 34 corrections and the list of conference participants, which had been omitted from the bound text. Many printing errors, however, were not spotted. The chapters in part III could have
been more sensibly grouped under particular aspects of biomonitoring (e.g. GC-MS methods, UP-postlabelling techniques and genotoxic methods). David Shuker's chapter on methods for detecting exposure to carcinogens from urine analysis (of e.g. aikylated DNA bases) could have been improved by at least including some structures, if not actual reaction schemes. By contrast, two poster contributions from Professor Golding's group at Newcastle University on the synthesis of some DNA adducts, and the synthesis of polymer-linked guanine for detecting carcinogens in vivo, contain a useful amount of structural detail. These quibbles should not obscure the usefulness of biomonitoring for alerting occupational physicians at an early stage to exposure to carcinogens and other toxic chemicals. The continued development of these techniques and their appraisal through further editions of this book are eagerly awaited. [Rupert Purchaso---BIBRA]