ExposureAssessmentofWorkerstoAirbornePCDD/Fs, PCBs and PAHs at an Electric Arc Furnace Steelmaking Plant in the UK (original) (raw)
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Increased risk of lung cancer in the melting department of a second ontario steel manufacturer
American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 1991
A study of lung cancer among workers at an electric arc steel making operation was performed to follow up on the observation of a lung cancer cluster in the melt shop of another plant. The study group comprised 335 deceased men identified from plant records. Eight of thirty men who had ever worked in the pouring pit area died of lung cancer (PMR 276; p ≤ 0.01), but increased risk was not found elsewhere in the melting department. There was a significant trend in lung cancer risk with the length of employment in the pit area during a time window 18‐30 years before death. Smoking data suggested that smoking alone could not account for the increased risk. An industrial hygiene assessment found present exposures to carcinogenic metals and silica to be within current guidelines. No polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were detected. This is the second steel plant for which we have found increased lung cancer risk in the pouring areas. The causative factors have not yet been identified.
Cancer Risk Assessment in Welder's Under Different Exposure Scenarios
Background: Welders exposure to nickel and hexavalent chromium in welding fumes is associated with increase of cancer risk in welders. In this study we calculated cancer risk due to exposure to these compounds in welders. Methods: The role of exposure parameters in welders on derived incremental lifetime cancer risk were determined by stochastic modeling of cancer risk. Input parameters were determined by field investigation in Iranian welders in 2013 and literature review. Results: The 90% upper band cancer risk due to hexavalent chromium and nickel exposure was in the range of 6.03E-03 to 2.12E-02 and 7.18E-03 to 2.61E-02 respectively. Scenario analysis showed that asthmatic and project welders are significantly at higher cancer risk in comparison with other welders (P<0.05). Shift duration was responsible for 37% and 33% of variances for hexavalent chromium and nickel respectively. Conclusions: Welders are at high and unacceptable risk of cancer. Control measures according to ...
2019
Background: Millions of workers are exposed to carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) mixtures. The toxicity of PAH mixtures is variable and depends on the composition of the mixture, which is related to the emission sources. Although several indicators exist, the cancer risk estimation associated with occupational exposure to PAHs is poorly known. Objectives: To assess the risk of lung cancer associated with PAHs in several industries using the atmospheric concentrations of benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) as a proxy. Methods: A total of 93 exposure groups belonging to 9 industries were investigated. Eight indicators found in the literature were compared to assess risks. A consensual indicator was used to estimate lung cancer risks. Results: Approximately 30% of the exposure groups were above the maximal risk level of the European Union (10 −4). The risk probabilities were > 10 −3 for coke and silicon production; > 10 −4 for the manufacturing of carbon products and aluminum production; > 10 −5 for foundries and combustion processes; > 10 −6 for the use of lubricating oils and engine exhaust emissions; and > 10 −7 for bitumen. The risk probabilities were highly variable within industries (from 1 to 1000 likelihood). A total of 27 (95% CI: 0.1-54) contemporary additional lung cancer cases could be expected per year in the French exposed population based on estimations using published data. Conclusion: This study provides an overview of cancer risk estimation in many industries. Despite efforts and changes that had been made to decrease risks, PAHs remain a sanitary threat for people exposed to these pollutants in occupational environments.
Cancer incidence among workers in six Norwegian aluminum plants
Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 2000
Objectives This study investigated associations between exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and the incidence of lung, bladder, kidney, and pancreatic cancer among Norwegian aluminunl plant workers. Methods Cancer incidence was investigated from 1953 to 1996 among 11 103 men employed for more than 3 years in the industry, giving 272 554 person-years during follow-up. A job exposure matrix was constructed to estimate exposure to particulate PAH and fluorides. The observed cases of cancer were compared with expected figures calculated from national rates. Dose-response relations were investigated by interual coinparisons using Poisson regression and stratified analyses for standardized incidence ratio. Potential confounding by smoking was investigated in subanalyses restricted to 3 of the plants. Results The study showed an overall excess for bladder cancer, standardized incidence ratio 1.3 (95% confidence interval 1 .I-1.5), which increased with increasing cumulative exposure to PAH and reached a relative risk of about 2 for the upper exposure category in the analysis with 30 years of lag time. There was no association between cumulative PAH exposure and lung cancer, but there were indications of an elevated risk of kidney cancer amorig the most heavily PAH-exposed persons in the analyses with a lag time of 30 years. For pancreatic cancer we found a higher incidence among the PAH-exposed persons than among the unexposed ones, but no clear dose-response association was found. C O~C~U S~O~S The study showed an association between bladder cancer and exposure to PAH, but gave 110 support to an association between PAH exposure and lung cancer in the primary aluminum industry.
Cancer mortality among electric utility workers exposed to polychlorinated biphenyls
Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 1997
Objectives-To assess whether excess mortality from cancer, malignant melanoma of the skin, and cancers of the brain and liver in particular, is associated with long term occupational exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Methods-An epidemiological study of mortality was conducted among 138 905 men employed for at least six months between 1950 and 1986 at five electrical power companies in the United States. Exposures were assessed by panels composed of workers, hygienists, and managers at each company, who considered tasks performed by workers in 28 job categories and estimated weekly exposures in hours for each job. Poisson regression was used to examine mortality in relation to exposure to electrical insulating fluids containing PCBs, controlling for demographic and occupational factors. Results-Neither all cause nor total cancer mortality was related to cumulative exposure to PCB insulating fluids. Mortality from malignant melanoma increased with exposure; rate ratios (RRs) relative to unexposed men for melanoma were 1.23 (95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.56 to 2.52), 1.71 (0.68 to 4.28) and 1.93 (0.52 to 7.14) for men with <2000, >2000-10 000, and >10 000 hours of cumulative exposure to PCB insulating fluids, respectively, without consideration of latency. Lagging exposure by 20 years yielded RRs of 1.29 (0.76 to 2.18), 2.56 (1.09 to 5.97), and 4.81 (1.49 to 15.50) for the same exposure levels. Mortality from brain cancer was modestly increased among men with <2000 hours (RR 1.61, 95% CI 0.86 to 3.01) and >2000-10 000 hours exposure (RR 1.79, 95% CI 0.81 to 3.95), but there were no deaths from brain cancer among the most highly exposed men. A lag of five years yielded slightly increased RRs. Mortality from liver cancer was not associated with exposure to PCB insulating fluids. Conclusions-This study was larger and provided more detailed information on exposure than past investigations ofworkers exposed to PCBs. The results suggest that PCBs cause cancer, with malignant melanoma being of particular concern in this industry.
American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 2003
Background This study is an extension of a previously published analysis of cancer mortality in a transformer manufacturing plant where there had been extensive use of mineral oil transformer fluid. The objectives of the present study were to update the mortality analysis and include deaths for the past 6 years as well as to do an analysis of cancer incidence of the cohort. Methods A cohort of 2,222 males working at a transformer manufacturing plant between 1946 and 1975 was constructed. Using a classical historical cohort study design, cancer incidence and mortality were determined through record linkage with Canadian provincial and national registries. The rates of cancer incidence and mortality experienced by this cohort were compared to that of the Canadian male population. Results A statistically significant increased risk of developing and dying of pancreatic cancer was found but not an increase in overall cancer mortality. This was consistent with the previous report from this group. Interestingly, the cohort demonstrated a statistically significant risk of overall cancer incidence and specific increased incidence of gallbladder cancer. Conclusions This study contributes further evidence to the growing body of literature indicating the carcinogenic properties of mineral oils used in occupational settings, in particular those used prior to 1970s.
Lung Cancer Risk in Hard-Metal Workers
American Journal of Epidemiology, 1998
An industry-wide mortality study on the association between lung cancer and occupational exposure to cobalt and tungsten carbide was carried out in the French hard-meta) industry. This case-control study was nested in the historical cohort of workers ever employed in this Industry's 10 facilities, most of which are located in eastern France. Workers were followed up from 1968 to 1991. Occupational exposure was assessed using a job-exposure matrix that provided semiquantitative scores for 320 job periods. These scores were significantly correlated with the levels of cobalt measured in 744 historical air samples. In this cohort, which comprised 5,777 males and 1,682 females, the death rate from lung cancer was significant (63 deaths, standardized mortality ratio = 1.30, 95% confidence interval (Cl) 1.00-1.66) when compared with national death rates. Sixty-one cases and 180 controls were included In the study. When the exposures during the last 10 years were ignored, a twofold lung cancer risk was observed among workers simultaneously exposed to cobalt and tungsten carbide (odds ratio (OR) = 1.93, 95% Cl 1.03-3.62) adjusted for other cobalt exposure (OR = 2.21, 95% Cl 0.99-4.90). The odds ratios increased with cumulative exposure (first quartile, OR = 1.00; second quartile, OR = 2.64; third quartile, OR = 2.59; fourth quartile, OR = 4.13) and, to a lesser degree, with duration of exposure (one decade, OR = 1.00; two decades, OR =1.61; three decades, OR = 2.77; four decades, OR = 2.03). Adjustments for smoking and for exposures to known or suspected carcinogens did not change the results, yet the odds ratio for smoking (3.38) was lower than expected, suggesting the possibility of some misclassification. Occupational risk was highest among smokers. This study supports the hypothesis that workers who manufacture hard metals have an increased mortality from lung cancer due to simultaneous exposure to cobalt and tungsten carbide. Am J Epidemiol 1998; 148:241-8.
Occupational exposure and cancer incidence among workers from an aluminum smelter in western Norway
Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 1999
Objectives This study investigated the associations between specific cancers and occupational exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), asbestos, electromagnetic fields, and heat in a cohort of workers from a Norwegian aluminum smelter. Methods Cancer incidence between 1953 and 1993 was observed for 2647 male short-term workers and 2 cohorts of men with at least 4 years' ernploylnent (2888 production workers and 373 maintenance workers). Standardized incidence ratios (SIR) were calculated from the national male cancer incidence, and associations with cumulative exposure were investigated by stratified analysis. Cumulative exposure in 15-year time windows was used as an alternative dose indicator. Results Investigation of the a priori hypotheses in the production cohort revealed a positive association between bladder cancer and PAH exposure 30 years or more before observation. The results also suggested an association between PAH and pancreatic cancer, although not statistically significant. No association was seen between exposure to PAH and cancers of the lungs or between magnetic field exposure and lymphatic and hematopoietic cancer. In the maintenance cohort there was a positive association between elnployment as an electrician and lymphatic and hematopoietic cancer and a statistically nonsignificant association between PAH and lung cancer. The short-term workers showed a statistically significant excess of lung cancer. C O~~~U S~O~S The results support previous findings of an association between exposure to PAH and bladder cancer.