A mixture of phenacetin and caffeine or phenacetin alone induced renal pelvic tumors and urinary bladder tumors in male rats. Many case reports have indicated that abuse of analgesic mixtures containing phenacetin induces increased incidences of papillary necrosis, adenocarcinomas of the renal parenchyma, transitional cell carcinomas or papillomas of the renal pelvis, and urinary bladder carcinomas. The variety of substances and mixtures precludes a concise description of properties.
Various pharmacopeias give specifications for analgesic mixtures containing phenacetin.
No data on historical production, imports, or exports were available. The primary routes of potential human exposure to analgesic mixtures containing phenacetin are ingestion, inhalation, and dermal contact. Potential consumer exposure could have occurred through ingestion of analgesic mixtures containing phenacetin as pharmaceuticals. Potential occupational exposure could have occurred through inhalation and dermal contact for workers involved in manufacturing, formulating, packaging, or administering the pharmaceuticals. However, there may be a small pollution problem relative to hospital wastes.