BHT

Anders Sandberg (asa@nada.kth.se)
27 Jan 1998 19:54:59 +0100


Tony Hollick:
> [2] BHT (Butylated Hydroxytoluene, generic, E321) is a potent zapper
> of lipid-coated viruses as well as free radicals (Ref: Pearson &
> Shaw, 'L:ife Extension'). No side effects, five bucks a kilo. Much
> better than megadoses of Vit. C; and your threshhold of infection is
> raised by orders of magnitude. Existing viral infections are
> suppressed.

Hmm, I got interested and did a small medline search. While most of
the stuff tends to support your claims, I also found the article
abstracted below, which suggests that BHT may not be as great as
Pearson & Shaw claim due to carcinogenic properties.

[ It should be noted that many scientific biogerontologists apparently
regard Pearson & Shaw as coloful but unscientific (cf. Walford, _The
120-Year Diet_). ]

Z Lebensm Unters Forsch 1993 Apr;196(4):329-338

[Toxicology of the synthetic antioxidants BHA and BHT in
comparison with the natural antioxidant vitamin E].

Kahl R, Kappus H
Abteilung fur Pharmakologie, Universitat Hamburg, Deutschland.

The toxicology of the food preservatives butylhydroxyanisole (BHA) and
butylhydroxytoluene (BHT) as well as the naturally occurring vitamin E
(alpha-tocopherol) is described. In high dosages all three compounds
induce in animals impairment of blood clotting, which can be explained
by an antagonism with vitamin K. Specific toxic effects to the lung
have only been observed with BHT. The other described toxic effects of
BHA and BHT are less characteristic and often occur only after high
dosage and long-term treatment. However, BHA induces in animals
tumours of the forestomach, which are dose dependent, whereas BHT
induces liver tumours in long-term experiments. Because there is no
indication of genotoxicity of BHA and BHT, all published findings
agree with the fact that BHA and BHT are tumour promoters. In contrast
to BHA and BHT, vitamin E is not carcinogenic. On the other hand, all
three antioxidants have also anticarcinogenic properties. The intake
of the necessary high doses as for these effects are, however,
contraindicated with BHA and BHT because of their carcinogenic
effects. The present overview concludes that the concentrations of BHA
and BHT nowadays used in food, drugs and cosmetics are probably
harmless. In addition, vitamin E can also be used in higher doses
without the occurrence of adverse effects.

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Anders Sandberg                                      Towards Ascension!
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