Carcinogenicity of acrolein, crotonaldehyde, and arecoline

In October–November, 2020, a Working Group of 20 scientists from ten countries met remotely at the invitation of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) to finalise their evaluations of the carcinogenicity of acrolein, crotonaldehyde, and arecoline. Acrolein was classified as “probably carcinogenic to humans” (Group 2A) on the basis of “sufficient” evidence of carcinogenicity in experimental animals and “strong” mechanistic evidence. Crotonaldehyde and arecoline were classified as “possibly carcinogenic to humans” (Group 2B) on the basis of “strong” mechanistic evidence. For all three agents, the evidence regarding cancer in humans was “inadequate”; no data were available for arecoline, and the few available studies of cancer in humans for acrolein and crotonaldehyde were generally small or uninformative. These assessments will be published in volume 128 of the IARC Monographs. 1 International Agency for Research on Cancer. Volume 128: acrolein, crotonaldehyde, and arecoline. IARC Working Group. Lyon, France; Oct 29–Nov 13, 2020; IARC Monogr Identif Carcinog Hazards Hum (in press). Google Scholar