発がん性試験のエームズ試験などで有名かつ高名なBrues Ames自身が、自身の研究生活を振り返る記事をメモしておきます。
天然農薬（natural pesticide）*1に関する記述はこのあたり（太字は引用者による強調）：
To put synthetic carcinogens in perspective, Gold and I thought it necessary to examine the carcinogenicity of the natural background of chemicals as an appropriate control for synthetic chemicals. We estimated that 99.9% of all chemical exposure is from ingesting natural chemicals in food, e.g. 99.99% of exposure to pesticides is from ingesting natural pesticides produced by plants (23). We published a paper entitled “Ranking Carcinogenic Hazards” in Science in 1987 (17). To compare the average daily dose of chemicals which humans might receive with the dose that induced cancer in rodents, we created an index called HERP (human exposure dose/rodent potency dose). The results of HERP showed that the possible cancer hazard of traces of synthetic chemicals such as pesticide residues are tiny compared with natural chemicals in the diet. Even the possible hazards from “rodent carcinogens” in natural chemicals should be viewed with skepticism because of the problem of high dose testing.
まあ植物としても種子散布などに関係しない件で喰われるのは堪まらないですからね。別にボランティアで生きてるわけでもなし。
当該論文（ref 17）はこちら↓（HERPが高いほど高リスク。酒類のケタ違いの有害さが印象的／ハーブ系もなかなか）
Ames et al. (1987) in Science
UCバークレーにこんなページもあり。リンク先HPのPDFにおける青字が天然物質。
＊追記20100713：「自然農薬」ではなく「天然農薬」に訳語を変えました。あと細かい情報も追加。
*1:天然農薬とは植物自身が防御のために生産する毒性物質のこと。
