CARCINOGENIC RISK OF PESTICIDES

Because of their extensive use and ubiquity, pesticides represent a la rge proportion of chemical agents to which human beings are potentiall y exposed through their lifetime. Pesticides should have a low toxicit y to mammals, but absolute species selectivity is difficult to achieve because of the similarities in the biological macromolecules of all o rganisms. Some pesticides have been shown to be potentially associated with long-term health effects in human populations occupationally or environmentally exposed. Epidemiological studies on cancer risk in hum ans exposed to pesticides have provided a body of evidence which remai ns subject of scientific controversy. Experimental data are available for many active agrochemical compounds and their extrapolation to much more complex human exposure situations is still of limited value.