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Cancer suspect -- saccharin cleared as cancer cause
Source: Reuters Health
Monday, May 15, 2000
WASHINGTON, May 15 (Reuters) - The US government has removed saccharin from
its list of potential cancer-causing agents, the latest bi-annual report on the
issue said on Monday.
The National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), which
issues the report, said it had removed saccharin because tests that showed it
caused tumors in rats did not apply to humans. It had been listed since 1981.
"Two decades ago, when saccharin was shown to produce bladder tumors in
rats, it was a prudent, protective step to consider the sweetener to be a
likely human carcinogen," NIEHS director Dr. Kenneth Olden said in a
statement.
"However, our understanding of the science has advanced and allows us
to make finer distinctions today. Studies now indicate that the rat bladder
tumors arise from mechanisms that are not relevant to the human situation. In
addition, we have decades more data from observations of humans using saccharin
that adds to our confidence."
The NIEHS also removed ethyl acrylate, a substance used in making latex
paints and textiles, from the list.
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