Mutagen

Mutagens can be found in foods, beverages, and drugs. Sometimes a substance is mutagenic because it is converted in the body into something harmful. Regulatory agencies are responsible for testing food and drugs to insure that the public is not unknowingly exposed to mutagens. However, some mutagen-containing substances are not tightly controlled. One such substance is found in the tobacco of cigars and cigarettes.

Some mutagens occur naturally, and some are synthetic. Cosmic rays from space are natural, but they are mutagenic. Some naturally occurring viruses are considered mutagenic since they can insert themselves into host DNA. Hydrogen and atomic bombs are manmade, and they emit harmful radiation. Radiation from nuclear bombs and gaseous particles from nitrogen mustard and acridine orange have been used destructively in war. On the other hand, some mutagens are used constructively to kill bacteria that could grow in human foods, such as the small doses of nitrites used to preserve some meat. Even though nitrites can be mutagenic, without the nitrites these meats could cause botulism; hence, the benefit outweighs the risk involved.