Cancer-Causing Chemical in Smokeless Tobacco ID'd Latest Cancer
News Researchers Identify Chemical Linked to Oral Cancer Risk in
Smokeless Tobacco By Denise Mann Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD
The findings were presented at the American Chemical Society's
annual meeting in Philadelphia. The newly identified cancer-
causing culprit in these products is (S)-NNN. It is part of a
larger family of chemicals called nitrosamines. Nitrosamines are
also found in such foods as beer and bacon. They form naturally
in the stomach when people eat foods containing high levels of
nitrite. Nitrosamine levels in smokeless tobacco are far higher
than in food, according to a prepared statement. Researchers fed
rats a low dose of two forms of chemicals found in smokeless
tobacco for 17 months. The doses were about equivalent to a
person who used half a tin of smokeless tobacco every day for 30
years. (S)-NNN seemed to cause large numbers of oral and
esophageal tumors in the rats, the study shows. "There is a very
specific oral carci