Chemical Found In Condoms, Car Tires And Playground Surfaces May Cause Cancer Experts Warn

2-mercaptobenzothiazole or MBT, which is used in rubber manufacturing, may cause cancer according to the World Health Organization (WHO).  According to global health chiefs, MBT is present in babies' dummies, condoms, car tires, rubber insoles of shoes, airbeds, gloves, medical catheters, elastic bands, goggles, swimming caps, and soft playground surfaces made of "rubber crumb."

Rubber crumb, which are granules of rubber made from recycles tires, are known to be a cancer scare, which also contains particulars of mercury, arsenic, lead and other toxic chemicals. Many fear that players on football fields may accidentally swallow the substance or the rubber may be lodged in cuts or grazes. The concern came after a former NHS chief stated that 3G football pitches might have led his son to get cancer.

Twenty-four experts from eight different countries claimed there was enough evidence to include the chemical MBT to WHO's list of 'encyclopedia of carcinogens'. Its rating comes as a substance that 'probably causes cancer' alongside red meat, according to Mirror.

"It has most recently been identified in inhalable road dust with the wearing of rubber tires [being] the most likely source of this contamination," according to Professor Hans Kromhout, a member of the committee who reviewed the chemical. The chemical was initially blamed for causing skin allergies, but now MBT has been linked to bowel cancer, bladder cancer and a type of blood cancer, reported by the Daily Mail.

Research on the substance was reviewed by the WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer that studied workers at a Welsh factory of chemicals. Unfortunately, it was difficult to confirm MBT as the sole culprit because the workers were exposed to several other chemicals as well.

According to a spokesman from WHO, MBT is not yet a health issue for the general population as the small amounts of MBT found in everyday products were not likely to be harmful. But while MBT may not be a worldwide health issue, Professor Tom Sorahan of Birmingham University claims that workers manufacturing or using the chemical should be protected, as a regulatory system should be put in place to protect them.