NCI 2024 — Nickel Compounds (Cancer-Causing Substances factsheet)
The National Cancer Institute’s consumer-facing factsheet in its Cancer-Causing Substances series summarises the carcinogenicity of nickel compounds for a general-public audience. It states that exposure to various nickel compounds increases the risks of lung cancer and nasal cancer, that occupational inhalation in mining, smelting, welding, casting, and grinding is the dominant exposure route, and that general-population exposures via air, water, food, tobacco smoke, and nickel-plated materials (coins, jewellery, stainless steel cooking and eating utensils) are “almost always too low to be of concern.” The page is a tertiary synthesis: its four cited references are the EPA Health Effects Notebook for Hazardous Air Pollutants (2000), the IARC Monograph Volume 100C (2012), the NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards (2010), and the NTP 15th Report on Carcinogens (2021).
Summary
| Item | NCI factsheet position |
|---|---|
| Carcinogenicity of nickel compounds | Exposure to various nickel compounds increases lung cancer and nasal cancer risk |
| Dominant exposure pathway | Occupational inhalation of dust and fumes, plus skin contact |
| General-population exposure routes named | Air, water, food, tobacco smoke; nickel-plated materials (coins, jewellery, stainless steel cookware and utensils) |
| General-population risk characterisation | Exposures “almost always too low to be of concern” |
| Workplace control reference | OSHA exposure limits for nickel compounds |
| Source authorities cited | EPA HAP Notebook (2000); IARC Vol 100C (2012); NIOSH Pocket Guide (2010); NTP 15th RoC (2021) |
Provenance notes
Two-page PDF capture of cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/substances/nickel, archived 2026-06-03 (footer timestamp: 6/3/26, 4:47 PM). The factsheet carries no publication date in body text; the 2024 year reflects the most recent reference last-accessed stamp on the page (IARC Vol 100C, “Last accessed June 10, 2024”). The factsheet is a synthesis layer; substantive carcinogenicity and exposure conclusions derive from the four references it cites, all of which are independently ingested or available for ingest in this wiki (see ntp-15th-roc-nickel-2021, atsdr-nickel-toxprofile-2024 for adjacent US authoritative coverage).
Implications
Certification: confirms the US public-health-communication framing that the general population’s nickel exposure through food and consumer items is not the carcinogenicity-driving route; the carcinogenicity classification (IARC Group 1; NTP “known human carcinogens”) rests on occupational inhalation. The HMTc nickel analyte sits on dietary non-cancer endpoints (per efsa-nickel-contam-2020), not on this factsheet’s cancer route.
Courses: useful as a one-page consumer-audience anchor when explaining why nickel’s “known carcinogen” classification does not translate directly into a dietary cancer-risk warning.
App: low utility — no occurrence data, no thresholds, no matrix-specific guidance.
Wiki pages updated on ingest
Page history
The five most recent substantive edits to this page. The full version history lives in git; when DOI minting comes online (see schema docs), each entry below will also link to a version-pinned DataCite DOI.
| Commit | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 9c0b0a7 | 2026-06-05 | codex fire 2026-06-05: no unclaimed auto-fetched pdfs |