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Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are the products of incomplete combustion of organic materials, which are present in cigarette smoke, deep‐fried food, and in natural crude oil. Since PAH‐metabolites form DNA adducts and cause oxidative DNA damage, we asked if these environmental carcinogens could affect transforming potential of the human Polyomavirus JC oncoprotein, T‐antigen (JCV T‐antigen). We extracted DMSO soluble PAHs from Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (oil‐PAHs), and detected several carcinogenic PAHs. The oil‐PAHs were tested in exponentially growing cultures of normal mouse fibroblasts (R508), and in R508 stably expressing JCV T‐antigen (R508/T). The oil‐PAHs were cytotoxic only at relatively high doses (1:50–1:100 dilution), and at 1:500 dilution the growth and cell survival rates were practically unaffected. This non‐toxic dose triggered however, a …