Malthion as a carcinogen
MBT1159@ACS.TAMU.EDU
Tue, 2 Aug 1994 15:54:07 -0500 (CDT)
On another mail list (Gardens, I believe) someone made the comment
that the natural carcinogens (those that plants produce naturally to ward
off attackers) outnumber the artificial ones by 10,000 to 1. Among these
include nutmeg and cinnamon, which are said to be so carcinogenic that they
would be banned by the USDA (for you Americans) if it were not a natural
product. Obviously, you don't want to take something as leathal as rat
poison and sprinkle it on your cereal every morning, but my question would
be HOW carcinogenic Malthion is. Does it take 1 year, 5 years, 100 years to
get cancer?
I am fairly certain about the figures and details I gave above, but
I'm certainly not too proud to be corrected.
Matt Thompson
Texas A&M University