Soot wart

Soot wart (or chimney sweep`s cancer) is a squamous cell carcinoma of the skin of the scrotum. It was the distinction of being the first reported form of occupational cancer, and was initially identified by Percival Pott in 1775.

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The name came about as it was initially noticed as prevalent amongst chimney sweeps. Decades later, it was noticed to occur amongst gas plant and oil shale workers, and it was later found that certain constituents of tar, soot, and oils, known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, were found to cause cancer in laboratory animals.

References

• Online Medical Dictionary. Retrieved on 29 December, 2007.
• Curling, Thomas Blizard (1856). A Practical treatise on the diseases of the testis, 409. 
• Healthgoods - Occupational Cancer. Retrieved on 29 December, 2007.