Stewart B W
South Eastern Sydney Public Health Unit, Randwick, NSW.
Med J Aust. 2001 Mar 5;174(5):244-7. doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2001.tb143249.x.
The organic solvent trichloroethylene has been used in dry cleaning, as an industrial degreasing agent and as a solvent for oils and resins; large numbers of workers have been exposed to trichloroethylene, mainly by inhalation. Trichloroethylene has been categorised as a Group 2A carcinogen (probably carcinogenic to humans) by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (World Health Organization) and a Category 2 carcinogen (to be regarded as carcinogenic to humans) by the Australian National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal was asked to determine the validity of classifying trichloroethylene as a Category 2 rather than a Category 3 (data inadequate for making a satisfactory assessment) carcinogen. In the AAT's determination, relevant epidemiological evidence was not taken into account because such evidence concerned tumour sites apart from the kidney (the site of tumour induction by trichloroethylene in rats). This mode of evaluation is fundamentally different from that used by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. The precedent set by the consideration of carcinogenicity data in this case could have significant implications for classification of other putative carcinogens
有机溶剂三氯乙烯曾被用于干洗、作为工业脱脂剂以及作为油类和树脂的溶剂；大量工人接触过三氯乙烯，主要是通过吸入。三氯乙烯已被国际癌症研究机构（世界卫生组织）归类为2A类致癌物（可能对人类致癌），并被澳大利亚国家工业化学品通报和评估计划归类为2类致癌物（被视为对人类致癌）。行政上诉法庭被要求判定将三氯乙烯归类为2类而非3类（数据不足以做出令人满意的评估）致癌物是否有效。在行政上诉法庭的裁决中，相关的流行病学证据未被考虑在内，因为此类证据涉及的肿瘤部位并非肾脏（三氯乙烯在大鼠体内诱发肿瘤的部位）。这种评估方式与国际癌症研究机构所采用的方式根本不同。此案中对致癌性数据的考量所确立的先例可能会对其他推定致癌物的分类产生重大影响。
