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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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Lung cancer

Causes Grouped by strength of evidence

Strong Evidence aluminum arsenic asbestos attapulgite benzo(a)pyrene beryllium bis(chloro)methyl ether cadmium chloromethyl ethers chromium (VI) coal tars diesel exhaust ionizing radiation mineral oils nickel PAHs particulate air pollution (soot) particulate air pollution (soot) radon silica sulfur mustard (mustard gas) tobacco smoke (active smoking) tobacco smoke (secondhand) uranium	Good Evidence acid aerosols aromatic amines benz(a)anthracene chlorophenols coal dust copper creosotes dibenz(a,h)anthracene dimethyl sulfate epichlorohydrin nitrosamines NNK PAHs solvents	Limited Evidence 1,2-dichloroethane acrylamide acrylonitrile Agent Orange antimony benzene bromoform cacodylic acid carbamates carbon black ceramic fibers chlordane chlorpyrifos cobalt cypermethrin daminozide (Alar) DDT/DDE diazinon dibromochloropropane (DBCP) dichloropropene dioxins / TCDD ethylene oxide fluoride formaldehyde glasswool herbicides hydrazines hydrochloric acid isoprene lead methylene chloride metolachlor nitrobenzene nitrosomorpholine organochlorine pesticides paraquat pendimethalin permethrin pesticides phenoxyacetic herbicides pyrethins / pyrethroids rockwool slagwool styrene talc terrazole tetrachloroethylene (PCE) tetranitromethane titanium dioxide trichloroethylene (TCE) urethane vanadium vinyl chloride

Notes

NNN and NNK are tobacco-specific nitrosamines. In addition to groups or individual pesticides listed, pesticide exposure in applicators, manufacuters and agricultural workers has been associated with lung cancer. In these situations, the individual is exposed to mixtures of pesticides or different pesticides at different times and a correlation between an individual pesticide and disease can not be made. PAH-DNA adduct levels have been related to carcinogen metabolizing genes such as CYP1A1, GSTM1 and GSTP1. The CYP1A1, MspI variant, in Japanese smokers has been associated with an increased risk of lung cancer. A deficiency glutathione S-transferase activity, GSTM1, has been associated with an increased risk of smoking associated lung cancer. Asbestos, arsenic, and uranium have been reported to act additively or multiplicatively with tobacco smoke to cause disease. Cobalt in combination with tungsten carbide is an IARC Group 2A carcinogen.

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
Lung Neoplasms

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.