Results of study on the carcinogenicity of aspartame

[Guest guest]

Result. s of study on the carcinogenicity of the artificial

sweetener aspartame JoAnn Guest Sep 19, 2005 15:04 PDT

14 July 2005

Press Release

http://www.ramazzini.it/eng/fondazione/eventidettagli.asp?id=210

CRC/ERF

Results of study on the carcinogenicity of the artificial sweetener

aspartame

 

Summary. A long-term study to evaluate the potential carcinogenic

effects of aspartame, an artificial sweetener used in more than 6,000

food and pharmaceutical products has recently been completed in the

experimental laboratories of its Cancer Research Center of the European

Foundation of Oncology and Environmental Sciences “B. Ramazzini” in

Bologna, Italy.

 

The first results of the experiment were reported to the Ministry of

Health and to the Superior Institute of Health of the Italian government

in April 2005. In mid-June, these findings were then communicated to the

European Food Safety Authority, the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer

Center of Columbia University, the National Cancer Institute of the US

government, and the National Toxicology Program of the US National

Institutes of Health.

 

First results demonstrate that aspartame, when administered to rats for

the entire life span, induces an increase of lymphomas and leukemias in

female rats. The study is currently being published in the European

Journal of Oncology (available at:

 

http://www.ramazzini.it/fondazione/docs/AspartameGEO2005.pdf ) and final

results will be presented at the 3rd international scientific conference

of the Collegium Ramazzini, “Framing the Future in Light of the Past:

Living in a Chemical World”, to be held in Bologna, Italy from September

18-21, 2005, the proceedings of which will be published in the Annals of

the New York Academy of Sciences.

 

Communication. Aspartame is an artificial sweetener consumed by hundreds

of millions of people worldwide. It is used in over 6,000 diet products

including soft drinks, chewing gum, candy, desserts, yogurt as well as

in pharmaceuticals, in particular, syrups and antibiotics for children.

 

The average daily intake of aspartame is calculated to be about 2-3

mg/Kg of body weight, a figure which increases for children and women of

childbearing age. Current daily intake allowed by regulatory bodies is

50 mg/Kg of body weight in the US and 40 mg/Kg of body weight the

European Union.

 

Prior to the commercialization of aspartame in the 1970s, the

manufacturers of the compound conducted various experimental studies on

rats and mice to test its carcinogenicity. When taken together, the

results of these studies were considered negative with regard to the

carcinogenicity of aspartame. Doubts were however raised by some in the

scientific community about the conduct of the experiments and the fact

that some cases of malignant brain tumors were found among animals

treated with aspartame while none were found among the control group.

Given the limitations of these studies and the ever growing use of

aspartame throughout the years, the European Ramazzini Foundation

decided in the late 1990s to plan and perform an experiment that would,

based on the total number of animals used, the number of dose levels

studied, and the conduct of the experiment according to Good Laboratory

Practices, provide an adequate evaluation of the potential carcinogenic

effects of aspartame.

 

The CRC/ERF study was conducted on 1800 rats (900 males, 900 females) of

the colony used for over 30 years by the Foundation. In order to

simulate daily human intake, aspartame was added to the standard rat

diet in quantities of 5000, 2500, 100, 500, 20, 4, and 0 mg/Kg of body

weight. Treatment of the animals began at 8 weeks of age and continued

until spontaneous death. A complete necropsy and histopathological

evaluation of tissues and organs was then performed on each deceased

animal, for a total of over 30,000 slides examined by microscope.

 

The first results of the experiment show:

1) a dose-related statistically significant increase of lymphomas and

leukemias in female rats. This statistically significant increase was

also observed at a dose level of 20 mg/Kg of body weight, a dose

inferior to the accepted daily intake permitted by current regulations

(50-40 mg/Kg of body weight);

 

2) that the addition of aspartame to the diet induces a dose-related

reduction in food consumption, without however causing a difference in

body weight between treated and untreated animals.

 

The above results demonstrate for the first time that aspartame is a

carcinogenic agent, capable of inducing lymphomas and leukemias in

female rats, including when administered at dose levels very close to

the acceptable daily intake for humans. In addition, the data

demonstrate that the integration of aspartame into the diet did not

affect the body weight of treated animals compared with untreated

animals.

 

As recognized by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)

of the World Health Organization, results of long-term bioassays

conducted on rodents (rats and mice) are highly predictive of

carcinogenic risk for humans. In light of this fact, the results of the

CRC/ERF study on aspartame call for urgent reconsideration of

regulations governing its use as an artificial sweetener in order to

better protect public health, in particular that of children.

 

 

Websites

European Foundation for Oncology and Environmental Sciences “B.

Ramazzini” www.ramazzini.it/fondazione/eng

 

3rd international scientific conference of the Collegium Ramazzini

www.ramazzini.it/living2005

 

Contact

Kathryn Knowles of Resource Development

European Foundation of Oncology and Environmental Sciences “B.

Ramazzini”

develo-

+39 0516640460