Question

Which of the following chemicals in automobile exhaust can cause cancer?

• A. Carbon monoxide
• B. Polycyclic hydrocarbons
• C. Lead
• D. Oxides of nitrogen

Answer 1

The correct option is B Polycyclic hydrocarbons

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) part of the World Health Organisation announced that it had reclassified diesel exhaust as a 'definite carcinogen in highest category (Category 1). When diesel burns inside an engine it releases two potentially cancer-causing things: microscopic soot particles, and chemicals called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or PAHs. There are three possible ways these can cause cancer. The microscopic particles making up diesel exhaust particulate matter are less than one-fifth the thickness of a human hair. They are small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs, causing respiratory disease. Inhaled PAHs could directly damage the DNA in the cells of our lungs leading to cancer. Secondly, the soot particles can get lodged deep inside the lungs, causing long-term inflammation, and thirdly this can increase the rate at which cells divide. So if any nearby lung cells pick up random mutations, this inflammation could make them more likely to grow and spread.

Therefore, the correct answer is option B.