The Cesare Maltoni Cancer Research Center of the European Ramazzini Foundation has conducted
a long-term bioassay on aspartame (APM), a widely used artificial sweetener. APM was
administered with feed to 8-week-old Sprague-Dawley rats (100–150/sex/group), at concentrations
of 100,000, 50,000, 10,000, 2,000, 400, 80, or 0 ppm. The treatment lasted until natural
death, at which time all deceased animals underwent complete necropsy. Histopathologic evaluation
of all pathologic lesions and of all organs and tissues collected was routinely performed on
each animal of all experimental groups. The results of the study show for the first time that APM,
in our experimental conditions, causes a) an increased incidence of malignant-tumor–bearing animals
with a positive significant trend in males (p ≤ 0.05) and in females (p ≤ 0.01), in particular
those females treated at 50,000 ppm (p ≤ 0.01); b) an increase in lymphomas and leukemias with
a positive significant trend in both males (p ≤ 0.05) and females (p ≤ 0.01), in particular in
females treated at doses of 100,000 (p ≤ 0.01), 50,000 (p ≤ 0.01), 10,000 (p ≤ 0.05), 2,000
(p ≤ 0.05), or 400 ppm (p ≤ 0.01); c) a statistically significant increased incidence, with a positive
significant trend (p ≤ 0.01), of transitional cell carcinomas of the renal pelvis and ureter and their
precursors (dysplasias) in females treated at 100,000 (p ≤ 0.01), 50,000 (p ≤ 0.01), 10,000
(p ≤ 0.01), 2,000 (p ≤ 0.05), or 400 ppm (p ≤ 0.05); and d) an increased incidence of malignant
schwannomas of peripheral nerves with a positive trend (p ≤ 0.05) in males. The results of this
mega-experiment indicate that APM is a multipotential carcinogenic agent, even at a daily dose of
20 mg/kg body weight, much less than the current acceptable daily intake. On the basis of these
results, a reevaluation of the present guidelines on the use and consumption of APM is urgent and
cannot be delayed. Key words: artificial sweetener, aspartame, carcinogenicity, lymphomas, malignant
schwannomas, rats, renal pelvis carcinomas. Environ Health Perspect 114:379–385 (2006).
doi:10.1289/ehp.8711 available via
http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 17 November 2005]
Above is just a small portion of what is found here.
http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/members/2005/8711/8711.pdf (Thanks Ray)