Every day, people come into contact with thousands of chemicals(化学品). These chemicals are said to be harmless to human health. In fact, the chemicals are considered so safe that we wash with them. We put them on our bodies and even our faces. Other chemical products are used throughout our homes.
On its own, each chemical seems harmless. But in combination with other chemicals, they may become deadly. That is the finding of a two-year study by a group of scientists. The group was told to investigate the cancer-causing possibility of chemical mixtures.
Linda Gulliver was one of 174 scientists on the group. Their job was to study the cancer-causing possibility of 85 chemicals. All 85 are said to be common in the environment.
Ms. Gulliver explains that chemicals have the ability, to form dangerous mixtures. Even simple minerals can become dangerous when mixed with chemicals found in plastics or beauty products.
Working in groups, the scientists explored how different chemical mixtures could lead to cancer. Ms. Gulliver's team looked at the ability of different combinations to support the increase of malignant(恶性) human cells. She says the current way to identify whether chemicals cause cancer is to test them one at a time. This method leads to a long list of supposedly "safe" chemicals. She and her team say that approach needs to change.
"We definitely need certain research ... to find out what mixtures of chemicals would be more harmful than others; what groups of chemicals, when together, would produce more harmful effects. And at the moment, that is not known."
An estimated one in five cancers has been linked to chemical exposure. It may turn out that the cancer-causing villain (罪魁恶首)is not a single chemical at all. The villain could be a deadly combination. The increase of risk to cancer could be from exposure to many chemical compounds at the same time.
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