Evaluation of a possible role for antimutagens, antiteratogens, and anticarcinogens in reducing environmental health hazards.

The use of protective agents (e.g., sulfhydryl compounds, certain vitamins, amino acids, cations, and antibiotics) offers a novel and promising means of dealing with the ever increasing burden of environmental hazards facing man. Through the daily uptake of minimal doses as a prophylactic measure by the most endangered groups of the population or by direct mixing of the appropriate protective agent with the inducer (e.g., pesticides or anticancer drugs) it should be possible to reduce or prevent some of the most serious toxic side effects including those of a mutagenic, teratogenic or carcinogenic nature. Among some of the most outstanding protection examples cited are the antimutagenic, antiteratogenic and anticarcinogenic effects of L-cystein, and of some of the vitamins. However, in view of our limited understanding of protection mechanisms in this fairly new field of research and due to the toxic side effects of some of the protection agents themselves, a large-scale application of this approach cannot be recommended as yet. More research is urgently needed to study protection mechanisms in suitable standardized model systems and to develop safer and more efficient protective agents.