<unk>  is a squamous cell carcinoma of the skin of the scrotum.<unk>  was first described by Percivall Pott in 1775 who postulated that the cancer was associated with occupational exposure to soot. The cancer primarily affected<unk><unk>  who had been in contact with soot since their early childhood. The median age of onset of symptoms in one review was 37.7 years, although boys as young as 8 years old were found to have the disease. It was proposed by W.G. Spencer in 1890 that sweat running down their bodies had caused soot to accumulate in the rugae of the inferior surfaces of the scrotum, with the resulting chronic irritation causing scrotal cancer, but this was shown to be an incorrect artifact of the method used to stain his microscope slides. In 1922, R.D. Passey, a research physician at Guy's Hospital in London produced malignant skin tumors in mice exposed to an extract made from soot, demonstrating the presence of carcinogenic substances in soot which were the likely cause of cancer of the scrotum in<unk><unk> . In the 1930s Ernest Kennaway and James D. Cook of the Research Institute of the Cancer Hospital in London (later known as the Royal Marsden Hospital), discovered several polycyclic hydrocarbons present in soot that were potent carcinogens: 1,2,5,6-dibenzanthracene; 1,2,7,8-dibenzanthracene; and 1,2-benzpyrene (3) benzoαpyrene. DNA consists of sequences of four bases – guanine, adenine, cytosine, and thymine – bound to a deoxyribonucleic backbone, forming the four deoxyribonucleosides: deoxyguanosine etc. Benzo(α)pyrene interacts with deoxyguanosine of the DNA, damaging it and potentially starting the processes that can lead to cancer. The initial lesion is small and painless. It is often described as an itchy sore, wart, or pimple. Often times it may bleed due to scratching. Social context<unk> <unk> ng was a common practice across Europe and North America. The disease was mostly found in the United Kingdom, where climbing boys were used. The most likely reason for the disease's high prevalence in the United Kingdom is because<unk>  chutes were more narrow. Another reason can be attributed to hygiene standards in the 18th century. During this time, hygiene standards were lacking and bathing once a year was not uncommon. Families often shared sleeping blankets and these blankets were often the ones used by the<unk> <unk> r to collect soot, resulting in further repeated soot exposure. It was also not uncommon for children to work naked. The lack in hygiene standards coupled with working naked allowed for repeated skin exposure to toxins in<unk>  soot, a possible cause for this disease. The first<unk> <unk> rs Act to protect child workers was passed in 1788. This act stated that the minimum working age was 8 years old. In 1803, two societies were formed to protect children in the<unk> <unk> ng industry. In 1834, the British Parliament passed the Act for the Better Regulation of<unk> <unk> rs and their Apprentices and the Act for Safer Construction of<unk> s and Flues in response to child labor exploitation concern. This law forbade children under 10 years old from working. These Acts also required that improvements be made to<unk>  structures. Soon after, in 1840, the law changed the minimum age to 16 years old. This new law also suggested that those under 21 not work in the<unk> <unk> ng industry.An 1875 Act of Parliament forbade this practice. Climbing boys were also used in some European countries. Lord Shaftesbury, a philanthropist, led the later campaign. However, these laws were typically ignored due to lack of enforcement strategies. In 1863, the Children's Employment Commission evaluated child employment to ensure the Acts set in place were followed. Their report showed that child employment increased since the introduction of the Act of 1840, changing minimum working age to 16. Victor Hugo, influenced by the social injustice he witnessed, based a character in his novel Les Misérables on the injustices young boys in the<unk> <unk> ng industry faced. Through his character Cosette, he criticized child exploitation and slavery. In the United States, enslaved black children were hired from their owners and used in the same way, and were still climbing after 1875. Sir Percivall Pott Sir Percivall Pott (6 January 1714 – 22 December 1788) London, England) was an English surgeon, one of the founders of orthopedy, and the first scientist to demonstrate that a cancer may be caused by an environmental carcinogen. In 1765 he was elected Master of the Company of Surgeons, the forerunner of the Royal College of Surgeons. It was in 1775 that Pott found an association between exposure to soot and a high incidence of<unk> , a scrotal cancer (later found to be squamous cell carcinoma) in<unk><unk> . This was the first occupational link to cancer, and Pott was the first person to demonstrate that a malignancy could be caused by an environmental carcinogen. Pott's early investigations contributed to the science of epidemiology and the<unk> <unk> rs Act 1788. Pott describes<unk>  thus:It is a disease which always makes it first attack on the inferior part of the scrotum where it produces a superficial, painful ragged ill-looking sore with hard rising edges.....in no great length of time it pervades the skin, dartos and the membranes of the scrotum, and seizes the testicle, which it inlarges, hardens and renders truly and thoroughly distempered. Whence it makes its way up the spermatic process into the abdomen. He comments on the life of the boys: The fate of these people seems peculiarly hard … they are treated with great brutality … they are thrust up narrow and sometimes hot chimnies, where they are bruised burned and almost suffocated; and when they get to puberty they become … liable to a most noisome, painful and fatal disease. The suspected carcinogen was coal tar, and possibly arsenic.
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