Galvanized Urine Rabbit
How Likely is Zinc to Cause Cancer?
Zinc is one of the most common elements in the Earth’s crust. It is found in air, soil, and water, and is present in all foods. Pure zinc is a bluish-white shiny metal. Zinc has many commercial uses as coatings to prevent rust, in dry cell batteries, and mixed with other metals to make alloys like brass, and bronze. A zinc and copper alloy is used to make pennies in the United States. Zinc combines with other elements to form zinc compounds. Common zinc compounds found at hazardous waste sites include zinc chloride, zinc oxide, zinc sulfate, and zinc sulfide. Zinc compounds are widely used in industry to make paint, rubber, dyes, wood preservatives, and ointments.
When zinc enters the environment, some is released into the environment by natural processes, but most comes from human activities like mining, steel production, coal burning, and burning of waste. It attaches to soil, sediments, and dust particles in the air. Rain and snow remove zinc dust particles from the air. Depending on the type of soil, some zinc compounds can move into the groundwater and into lakes, streams, and rivers. Most of the zinc in soil stays bound to soil particles and does not dissolve in water. It builds up in fish and other organisms, but it does not build up in plants.
We may be exposed to zinc by ingesting small amounts present in our food and water, drinking contaminated water or a beverage that has been stored in metal containers or flows through pipes that have been coated with zinc to resist rust, eating too many dietary supplements that contain zinc, and Working in any of jobs related to: construction, painting, automobile mechanics, mining, smelting, and welding; manufacture of brass, bronze, or other zinc-containing alloys; manufacture of galvanized metals; and manufacture of machine parts, rubber, paint, linoleum, oilcloths, batteries, some kind of glass, ceramics, and dyes.
While zinc is an essential element in our diet, too little zinc can cause problems, but too much zinc is also harmful. Harmful effects generally begin at levels 10-15 times higher than the amount needed for good health. Large doses taken by mouth even for a short time can cause stomach cramps, nausea, and vomiting. Taken longer, it can cause anemia and decrease the levels of our good cholesterol. We do not know if high levels of zinc affect reproduction in humans. However, rats that were fed large amounts of zinc became infertile. Inhaling large amounts of zinc (as dusts or fumes) can cause a specific short-term disease called metal fume fever. We do not know the long-term effects of breathing high levels of zinc. Putting low levels of zinc acetate and zinc chloride on the skin of rabbits, guinea pigs, and mice caused skin irritation. Skin irritation will probably occur in humans also.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has not classified zinc for carcinogenicity and based on incomplete information from human and animal studies, the EPA has determined that zinc is not classifiable as to its human carcinogenicity. As zinc is essential for proper growth and development of young children, it is likely that children exposed to very high levels of zinc may have similar effects as adults. We do not know whether children are more susceptible to the effects of excessive intake of zinc than the adults. Further we have no information whether excess zinc can cause developmental effects in humans. Animal studies have found decreased weight in the offspring of animals that ingested very high amounts of zinc.
Since children roaming about near waste sites that contain zinc may be exposed to higher levels of zinc through breathing contaminated air, drinking contaminated drinking water, touching or eating contaminated soil, we can discourage our children from eating soil or putting their hands in their mouths and teach them to wash their hands frequently and before eating. If we use medicines or vitamin supplements containing zinc, we should make sure that we use them appropriately and keep them out of the reach of children. Though there are tests available to measure zinc in your blood, urine, hair, saliva, and feces, these tests are not usually done in the doctor’s office because they require special equipment. High levels of zinc in the feces can mean high recent zinc exposure. High levels of zinc in the blood can mean high zinc consumption and/or high exposure. Tests to measure zinc in hair may provide information on long-term zinc exposure; however, the relationship between levels in our hair and the amount of zinc we were exposed to is not clear.
About the Author
Dr.Badruddin Khan teaches Chemistry in the University of Kashmir, Srinagar, India.
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