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A cocktail of 50 common chemicals, some found in everyday objects, could be fuelling a global cancer epidemic, according to new research.

Scientists looked at 85 chemicals not usually considered to have a role in causing cancer and found that 50 could play a part. The chemicals, at everyday exposure levels, were found to support mechanisms in the body that helped cancer to develop.

They included chemicals found in items such as mobile phones, detergents and cooking pans, and pesticides used on fruits and vegetables.

Hemad Yasaei, a cancer biologist from Brunel University London, said: “This research backs up the idea that chemicals not considered harmful by themselves are combining to trigger cancer and might lie behind the global cancer epidemic we are witnessing.

“We