Istituto B. Ramazzini - Cooperativa Sociale Onlus

In a recent commentary entitled "The limits of 2-Year Bioassay Exposure Regimens for Identifying Chemical Carcinogens"Environ Health Perspect 116:11, 2008, authors James Huff, Devra Davis and Michael Jacobson argue that the sensitivity of chemical carcinogenesis bioassays would be enhanced by exposing rodents beginning in utero and continuing for 30 months (130 weeks) or until their natural deaths at up to about 3 years. Citing lifespan studies conducted by the European Ramazzini Foundation on aspartame and toluene the authors conclude that observing rodents until their natural deaths (i.e the Ramazzini lifespan model) increases the sensitivity of bioassays, avoids false-negative results, and strengthens the value and validity of results for regulatory agencies.