Styrene Classified as Reasonably Anticipated to be a Human Carcinogen

The National Toxicology Program of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has listed styrene, a common chemical used in rubber, plastic, food containers and carpet backing, as reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen in its 2011 Report on Carcinogens. Limited evidence of styrene’s carcinogenicity is based on studies of worker exposures that showed increased mortality from or incidence of cancer of the body system that produces lymphocytes, blood cells, and bone marrow, and increased DNA bonding to cancer-causing chemicals and genetic damage to lymphocytes. The entire report can be found on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ website www.hhs.gov.