Dietary fiber is believed to decrease the incidence of colorectal cancer, but not all types of fiber are equally protective. Dietary fibers may be divided broadly into insoluble and soluble fibers, and there is evidence from animal experiments that the latter not only fails to protect against colorectal cancer but may enhance its development. Adsorption of carcinogens to insoluble dietary fiber in the intestinal tract is one of the mechanisms by which dietary fiber is believed to protect against colorectal cancer. In previous in vitro experiments, we showed that the hydrophobic carcinogen 1,8-dinitropyrene (DNP) adsorbs to insoluble plant cell wall components (insoluble dietary fibers). Soluble polysaccharides (pectic polysaccharides) extracted from the walls of parenchyma cells of dicotyledonous plants were found to maintain DNP in aqueous solutions and decrease its adsorption to insoluble wall components. In the present study, we examined a commercial preparation of pectin and seven other soluble-fiber polysaccharides with diverse structures for their effects on the distribution of DNP. Many of these are used as emulsifiers and stabilizers in the food industry. They all maintained DNP in aqueous solution and decreased its adsorption to alpha-cellulose, which we used as an example of an insoluble dietary fiber. Gum arabic was the most effective and kappa-carrageenan the least. The capacity of the polysaccharides to act as emulsifiers and stabilizers may explain their effects on DNP distribution. The monosaccharide glucose and the disaccharide cellobiose had no effect on the distribution of DNP. These results indicate three possible mechanisms by which soluble-fiber polysaccharides may enhance the development of colorectal cancer. First, because they reduce the ability of insoluble dietary fibers to adsorb hydrophobic carcinogens, more carcinogens may enter the colon maintained in solution than adsorbed onto insoluble fibers. Second, if soluble-fiber polysaccharides are maintaining hydrophobic carcinogens in solution and these polysaccharides are degraded by bacterial enzymes in the colon, then the carcinogens may come out of solution and be deposited onto the mucosal surface of the colon. Third, soluble-fiber polysaccharides may cross the intestinal epithelium and carry with them carcinogens maintained in solution. These studies have important consequences for nutrition, because soluble-fiber polysaccharides represent a common component of foods.