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Toxicant & Disease Database

Toxicant and Disease Database

The CHE Toxicant and Disease Database is a searchable database that summarizes links between chemical contaminants and approximately 180 human diseases or conditions. Diseases and or toxicants can be viewed by utilizing the search options below. In 2025, we have also added links to information available in the Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD). See a full description of the database and our methodology.

See also our compilation of other Databases and Resources.

For questions or comments about the database, please contact us through our Contact form.

Select one of the following

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Select a Disease

Select a Toxicant

Search by CAS number

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Search by name

Adult-onset leukemias*

Causes Grouped by strength of evidence

Strong Evidence 1,3-butadiene ethylene oxide formaldehyde ionizing radiation	Good Evidence 1,2-dichloroethane Agent Orange alachlor aromatic amines arsenic carbon disulfide carbon tetrachloride chlorinated solvents DDT/DDE dioxins / TCDD pesticides phenoxyacetic herbicides tobacco smoke (active smoking)	Limited Evidence asbestos atrazine captan carbamates chlordane chromium crotoxyphos dichlorvos dieldrin electromagnetic fields lindane methidathion organochlorine pesticides organophosphates PAHs pesticides pyrethins / pyrethroids styrene tetrachloroethylene (PCE) trichloroethylene (TCE)

Notes

* - general category including acute and chronic leukemia. + - Group 1 human carcinogen, # - Group 2A human carcinogen, ^ - Group 2B human carcinogen (IARC), In addition to the pesticides listed, unspecified pesticide exposure in applicators, manufacturers, and agricultural workers has been associated with leukemia. In these situations, the individual is exposed to mixtures of pesticides or different pesticides at different times. Associations between a specific pesticide exposure and disease can not be made.

ADDITIONAL DATA: The toxicant–disease relationships shown above were last updated in 2011. The relationships shown here are still valid, but additional research has been conducted since that time. Additional research on this disease can be found at this link:

COMPARATIVE TOXICOGENOMICS DATABASE: CURATED RESULTS
Leukemia

This link will direct your search to an external database, the Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD). This database is different from, and complementary to, our database.

More information about sources and methods

CHE’s Toxicant and Disease Database evaluates existing evidence and categorizes that evidence based on its strength. It is constructed using expert judgment and epidemiological causal inference.
The CTD, in contrast, is a continually updated resource that presents information on a broad range of literature on chemical-disease relationships. It also provides data on genes, biological processes, and phenotypes related to chemicals and diseases. It does not categorize information based on strength of evidence, include an expert judgment process, or draw causal conclusions about toxicant-disease relationships.
The link we have provided on this page goes directly to CTD's curated results, which are a subset of the information available through CTD. Curated results in CTD are those for which studies are available on the toxicant-disease relationship.