Ann Olsson | Karolinska Institutet (original) (raw)

Papers by Ann Olsson

Background Central nervous system (CNS) tumours are the commonest childhood solid malignancy. We ... more Background Central nervous system (CNS) tumours are the commonest childhood solid malignancy. We assessed the risk of childhood CNS tumours associated with parental occupational exposure to pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), diesel motor exhaust (DME), asbestos, crystalline silica, and metals. Methods We pooled three population-based case-control studies from France, Germany and the UK. Cases were children below 15 years of age diagnosed with CNS tumours; controls were matched to cases by gender and age. Socio-demographic and parental occupational information was collected using study-specific standardised interviews, either face-to-face or by telephone. Each study provided occupational data coded according to their national schemes; which were harmonised into ILO’s International Standard Classification of Occupations 1968 and 1988. Two general population job-exposure matrices (DOM-JEM, ALOHA+) were used to estimate parental occupational exposures. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using logistic regression. Results The study included 1,361 children with CNS tumours and 5,500 controls. ORs for paternal exposure (yes/no) around conception were as follows: PAH 1.22 (95% CI: 0.98–1.52); metals 1.18 (95% CI: 0.96–1.46); and asbestos 1.12 (95% CI: 0.95–1.32). Asbestos was the only potentially hazardous exposure were the point estimate increased at higher levels; OR 1.42 (95% CI: 0.87–2.32). Paternal exposure to pesticides, DME and silica showed no increased risk. The prevalence of maternal occupational exposures to pesticides, PAH, DME, asbestos, silica, and metals was low; and no increased ORs were observed either around the time of conception or during pregnancy. Conclusion Our large pooled study provided little evidence of an association between paternal occupational exposure to PAH, metals, and asbestos around conception and CNS tumour risk in the offspring. Previous studies have reported inconsistent results for PAH, while no studies have reported significant associations for asbestos and metals.

Background: Data are scarce on the association between prenatal/preconception environmental expos... more Background: Data are scarce on the association between prenatal/preconception environmental exposure and testicular germ cell tumor (TGCT) in offspring. We examined parental occupational exposures to heavy metals and welding fumes in relation to TGCT in offspring in a registry-based case-control study (NORD-TEST Study). Methods: We identified TGCT cases diagnosed at ages 14-49 years in Finland (1988), Norway (1978-2010), and Sweden (1979-2011) through nationwide cancer registries. These cases were individually matched by country and year of birth to controls selected from population registries. Information on parental occupations was retrieved from censuses. From this, we estimated prenatal/preconception exposures of chromium, iron, nickel, lead, and welding fumes (all three countries), and cadmium (Finland only) for each parent using job-exposure matrices specifying prevalence (P) and mean exposure level (L). Exposure indices were calculated as a product of P and L (P Â L), and exposure categories were based on P Â L or different combinations of P and L. Results: The study comprised 8,112 cases and 26,264 controls. We observed no statistically significant TGCT risk associated with presence of heavy metals/welding fumes (P Â L > 0) and no doseresponse relationship (P trend ! 0.32). A statistically significant elevated TGCT risk was found in paternal exposure category where both P and L of chromium were high (vs. no chromium; OR ¼ 1.37, 95% confidence interval; 1.05-1.79). Conclusions: Our study provides little evidence of associations between parental exposures to heavy metals/welding fumes and TGCT in offspring with the potential exception of high paternal chromium exposure. Impact: Further research on paternal chromium exposure is warranted. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 25(10); 1426-34. Ó2016 AACR.

International Journal of Cancer, May 9, 2023

Globally, bladder cancer has been identified as one of the most frequent occupational cancers, bu... more Globally, bladder cancer has been identified as one of the most frequent occupational cancers, but our understanding of occupational bladder cancer risk in Iran is less advanced. This study aimed to assess the risk of bladder cancer in relation to occupation in Iran. We used the IROPICAN case‐control study data including 717 incident cases and 3477 controls. We assessed the risk of bladder cancer in relation to ever working in major groups of the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO‐68) while controlling for cigarette smoking, opium consumption. Logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). In men, decreased ORs for bladder cancer were observed in administrative and managerial workers (OR 0.4; CI: 0.2, 0.9), and clerks (OR 0.6; CI: 0.4, 0.9). Elevated ORs were observed in metal processors (OR 5.4; CI: 1.3, 23.4), and workers in occupations with likely exposure to aromatic amines (OR 2.2; CI: 1.2, 4.0). There was no evidence of interactions between working in aromatic amines‐exposed occupations and tobacco smoking or opium use. Elevated risk of bladder cancer in men in metal processors and workers likely exposed to aromatic amines aligns with associations observed outside Iran. Other previously confirmed associations between high‐risk occupations and bladder cancer were not observed, possibly due to small numbers or lack of details on exposure. Future epidemiological studies in Iran would benefit from the development of exposure assessment tools such as job exposure matrices, generally applicable for retrospective exposure assessment in epidemiological studies.

Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Sep 1, 2013

and any disease were 10.4%, 2.5%, 8.5%, 1.5%, and 1.3%, respectively. Occupational injury was fou... more and any disease were 10.4%, 2.5%, 8.5%, 1.5%, and 1.3%, respectively. Occupational injury was found as a significant factor for developing psychiatric disorders within one year after the target injury. The incidence rate of developing any psychiatric disorders was higher in patients after occupational injury than those after non-occupational injury and any medical condition. Further investigations are warranted to identify risk factors for psychiatric disorders following occupational injuries.

Frontiers in Public Health, Sep 6, 2019

Association between parental exposure to heavy metals and welding fumes and the risk of TGCT in o... more Association between parental exposure to heavy metals and welding fumes and the risk of TGCT in offspring (Sensitivity analysis 2)

Pairwise correlations between exposures of heavy metals and welding fumes

Occupational and Environmental Medicine, May 25, 2023

Objective Testicular germ cell tumours (TGCT) are the most common cancer in men of working age an... more Objective Testicular germ cell tumours (TGCT) are the most common cancer in men of working age and its incidence has increased notably over the past 40 years. Several occupations have been identified as potentially associated with TGCT risk. The aim of this study was to further explore the relationship between occupations, industries and TGCT risk in men aged 18-45 years. Methods The TESTIS study is a multicenter casecontrol study conducted between January 2015 and April 2018 in 20 of 23 university hospital centers in metropolitan France. A total of 454 TGCT cases and 670 controls were included. Full job histories were collected. Occupations were coded according to the International Standard Classification of Occupation 1968 version (ISCO-1968) and industry according to the 1999 version of Nomenclature d'Activités Française (NAF-1999). For each job held, ORs and 95% CIs were estimated using conditional logistic regression. Results A positive association was observed between TGCT and occupation as agricultural, animal husbandry worker (ISCO: 6-2; OR 1.71; 95% CI (1.02 to 2.82)), as well as salesman (ISCO: 4-51; OR 1.84; 95% CI (1.20 to 2.82)). An increased risk was further observed among electrical fitters and related, electrical and electronics workers employed for 2 years or more (ISCO: 8-5; OR ≥2 years 1.83; 95% CI (1.01 to 3.32)). Analyses by industry supported these findings. Conclusions Our findings suggest that agricultural, electrical and electronics workers, and salesmen workers experience an increased risk of TGCT. Further research is needed to identify the agents or chemicals in these high-risk occupations which are relevant in the TGCT development. Trial registration number NCT02109926. ⇒ Consistent with previous studies, an increased risk of TGCT among agricultural, electrical and electronics, and salesmen workers was observed. ⇒ This observation suggests consistent associations over time of occupations with the risk of TGCT. ⇒ The findings of this study offer important insights into the possible role of some highrisk occupations in the development of TGCT, suggesting the need to reinforce work health and safety measures. ⇒ Further studies are needed to investigate the agents involved in the high-risk occupations identified in our study and assess their association with the risk of TGCT.

Epidemiology, Apr 1, 2018

Aim Studying the effects of rare exposures in relation to rare diseases is challenging. In this s... more Aim Studying the effects of rare exposures in relation to rare diseases is challenging. In this session we will discuss problems and benefits with pooling data in epidemiological studies. We will show different examples of different types of pooling projects as well as results from those, and point to the contrasts with meta-analyses and multi-centre studies.

Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Oct 1, 2016

In this pooled study of LS and WG studies, a pool of all controls irrespective of the diagnosis o... more In this pooled study of LS and WG studies, a pool of all controls irrespective of the diagnosis of the individual matched case was generated. y England, Scotland, and Wales. Cohen Kappa compared with ALOHA JEM.

Environmental Health Perspectives, Jun 23, 2017

BACKGROUND: Testicular germ cell tumors (TGCT) were suggested to have a prenatal environmentally ... more BACKGROUND: Testicular germ cell tumors (TGCT) were suggested to have a prenatal environmentally related origin. The potential endocrine disrupting properties of certain solvents may interfere with the male genital development in utero. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to assess the association between maternal and paternal occupational exposures to organic solvents during the prenatal period and TGCT risk in their offspring. METHODS: This registry-based case control study included TGCT cases aged 14-49 y (n = 8,112) diagnosed from 1978 to 2012 in Finland, Norway, and Sweden. Controls (n = 26,264) were randomly selected from the central population registries and were individually matched to cases on year and country of birth. Occupational histories of parents prior to the child's birth were extracted from the national censuses. Job codes were converted into solvent exposure using the Nordic job-Nordic Occupational Cancer Study Job-Exposure Matrix. Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS: Overall, no association was found between prenatal maternal exposure to solvents and TGCT risk. In subset analyses using only mothers for whom occupational information was available in the year of or in the year prior to the child's birth, there was an association with maternal exposure to aromatic hydrocarbon solvents (ARHC)

International Journal of Cancer, May 24, 2019

Novelty and Impact: Our study is the first to pool birth cohorts to prospectively evaluate exposu... more Novelty and Impact: Our study is the first to pool birth cohorts to prospectively evaluate exposure to pesticides, animals, and organic dust in relation to childhood leukemia and CNS tumor risk. To our knowledge, this is the first study to report increased risk for childhood acute myeloid leukemia (AML) associated with fathers' exposure to agricultural pesticides, animals, and organic dust. Our findings are novel but need to be verified in future studies.

Background Prenatal exposures including parental occupational exposures have been hypothesised to... more Background Prenatal exposures including parental occupational exposures have been hypothesised to play an etiological role in testicular cancer; however, epidemiological data supporting this hypothesis remain scarce. In the NORD-TEST Study, a registry-based case-control study conducted in the Nordic countries, we examined the associations between certain parental occupational exposures before childbirth and testicular germ cell tumour (TGCT) in offspring. Methods TGCT cases diagnosed at ages 14–49 years between 1978 and 2012 in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden were identified from the cancer registries. Four controls per case were randomly selected from the central population registry and matched to cases by country and year of birth. We retrieved information on maternal and paternal occupations before childbirth from census or Pension Fund registry. Using the Nordic job-exposure matrices, occupational information was converted to exposure indices of pesticides (all four countries) and of solvents, heavy metals, or welding fumes (Finland, Norway and Sweden only). Further, information on family history of testicular cancer and personal history of genital malformations were retrieved through registry linkages. Conditional logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results The study sample comprised 9,569 cases and 32,028 controls (8,112 cases and 26,264 controls excluding Denmark). The data showed no significant associations of TGCT risk with maternal (OR = 0.83, 95% CI: 0.56–1.23) or paternal pesticide exposure (OR = 1.03, 95% CI: 0.92–1.14). We found increased TGCT risk associated with maternal exposure to aromatic hydrocarbon solvents (OR = 1.32, 95% CI: 1.06–1.65) but no linear dose-response relationship. Parental exposures to other solvents, heavy metals, or welding fumes did not significantly increase TGCT risk. Conclusions The NORD-TEST Study provided little evidence of associations of parental occupational exposures to pesticides, solvents, heavy metals, or welding fumes to TGCT risk, with the possible exception of maternal exposure to aromatic hydrocarbon solvents.

The SYNERGY project was established in 2007 to provide a scientific basis for recognition of lung... more The SYNERGY project was established in 2007 to provide a scientific basis for recognition of lung cancer as an occupational disease in workers exposed to more than one lung carcinogen. It represents the largest database of case-control studies on lung cancer with complete life course information on occupation and tobacco smoking. Data from 19 370 lung cancer cases and 23 674 controls are available from 16 case-control studies conducted between 1985 and 2010. Cases were recruited from hospitals or cancer registries, and in most studies eligible if: 1)<75 years; 2) resident for at least one year and 3) confirmed diagnosis of lung cancer by histology or cytology. Controls were recruited from the general population (81%) or hospitals (19%), and were individually or frequency matched to cases by sex and age. Information was predominantly collected by interviews with the study participants themselves, though next-of-kin respondents were accepted in five of the studies if subjects were unavailable (9.1% of cases, 6.6% of controls). Ethical approvals for the original studies were obtained in each country and for the SYN-ERGY project from the IARC Ethics Committee. The database comprises around 14% never smokers, whereof 822 cases. Women represent around 20% or the study population. The strengths of SYNERGY includes bringing together epidemiologists and exposure assessment experts from around the world to advance occupational cancer epidemiology, 2) power to study small risks, 3) providing quantitative exposure estimates for population-based case-control studies, and 4) allowing sub-group analyses, e.g. by gender, histology and smoking status.

Meditsina truda i promyshlennaia ekologiia, Mar 14, 2019

Cancer is increasing worldwide. Th e Russian Federation is no exception in this regard with an in... more Cancer is increasing worldwide. Th e Russian Federation is no exception in this regard with an increase of the total number of new cases predicted to rise from 529,062 in 2018 to 587,622 in 2040. Th e present high burden and increase in incident cases at the same time increases the pressure on healthcare infrastructure and related costs. Th us, primary and secondary prevention of cancer becomes essential. Occupational cancers related to exposure at the workplace are among the preventable cancer burden, due to the modifi ability of the risk through minimisation of occupational exposures and adequate worker protection. For the Russian Federation, some 20,000 cancers each year may be att ributable to occupation, but systematic recording is currently lacking. As information is also lacking on the absolute eff ect of various occupational carcinogens in the Russian workforce due to lack of large-scale epidemiological studies and because for many suspected occupational carcinogens the evidence may become stronger, the true burden may in fact be higher. Th e Russian Federation appears particularly suitable for research into occupational cancer given the sizable workforce, the heavy industr ialisation as well as the good documentation and workplace surveillance over time, so that results are both informative for the situation in the Russian Federation and on a global scale. Five challenging but not unfeasible steps of nationwide population-based cancer registration, development of a legal framework for record linkage of registries and data collections, recording of occupational cancers, large scale epidemiological occupational cancer research and rigorous implementation of worker protection on known carcinogens, lead the way to a continuously updated cancer control plan that includes the elimination of occupational cancer in the Russian Federation.

Environment International