Public Health Significance of Smoking-Asbestos Interactions (original) (raw)
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Occurrence of cancer in a small cohort of asbestos-exposed workers
Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 1981
HILT B, ROSENBERG J, LANGARD S. Occurrence of cancer in a small cohort of asbestos-exposed workers. Scand j work environ health 7 (1981) 185-189. During the construction period of a saltpeter plant from 1928 through 1929, 21 young men of equal age were heavily exposed to asbestos dust for 1 a. During an observation period from 1 January 1943 to 30 June 1980 three cases of lung cancer and two cases of mesothelioma were observed in the cohort. The number of lung cancers to be expected was 0.21. Radiographic changes associated with asbestos exposure were present in 17 of thE' 18 available chest radiographs.
Updated mortality study of a cohort of asbestos textile workers
Cancer medicine, 2016
Limited information is available on risk of peritoneal mesothelioma after asbestos exposure, and in general on the risk of cancer after cessation of asbestos exposure. We updated to 2013 the follow-up of a cohort of 1083 female and 894 male textile workers with heavy asbestos exposure (up to 100 fb/mL), often for short periods. A total of 1019 deaths were observed, corresponding to a standardized mortality ratio (SMR) of 1.68 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.57-1.78). SMRs were 29.1 (95% CI: 21.5-38.6) for peritoneal cancer, 2.96 (95% CI: 2.50-3.49) for lung cancer, 33.7 (95% CI: 25.7-43.4) for pleural cancer, and 3.03 (95% CI: 1.69-4.99) for ovarian cancer. For pleural and peritoneal cancer, there was no consistent pattern of risk in relation to time since last exposure, whereas for lung cancer there was an indication of a decline in risk after 25 years since last exposure. The findings of this unique cohort provide novel data for peritoneal cancer, indicating that - as for pleural...
Incidence of cancer and mortality among employees in the asbestos cement industry in Denmark
Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 1989
In a cohort study of the incidence of cancer and mortality among 7996 men and 584 women employed in the Danish asbestos cement industry between 1928 and 1984 over 99% were traced. Chrysotile asbestos was the only fibre type used until 1946, when amosite and (in 1952) crocidolite were also introduced. Chrysotile constituted 89%, amosite 10%, and crocidolite 1 % ofthe asbestos used. During the first 25 years of manufacture the exposure levels were high, especially in areas where the asbestos was handled dry. Measurements from 1948 indicate that the fibre levels may have ranged from 100 to 1600 times over the present Danish threshold limit value of 0 5 fibre/ml. In 1973 more than 41 % of personal samples were higher than 2 f/ml. About 76% of the workforce left the factory within five years of starting employment. A total of 1346 deaths and 612 cases of cancer were observed in the cohort between 1943 and 1984. Among employed men the overall mortality (O/E 1-18; 95% CI 1.12-1.25), cancer mortality (O/E 1-32; 95% CI 1.19-1 46), and overall incidence of cancer (O/E 1 22; 95% Cl 1i 12-1 32) were significantly increased compared with all Danish men. This was not so among employed women. For men, significant excess risks were found for cancer of the lung (O/E 1-80; 95% CI 1-54-2-10), pleura (O/E 5 46; 95% CI 2-62-10-05), mediastinum (O/E 5'00; 95% C 1-01-14 61), stomach (O/E 1-43; 95% CI 1 03-1 .93), and other male genital organs (O/E 3 03; 95% CI 1 1 1-6-60). The mortality was significantly increased for men for non-malignant pulmonary diseases (O/E 1 63; 95% CI 1-33-1-98). Among the group of asbestos cement workers with first employment 1928-40 an excess risk of laryngeal cancer was found (O/E 5'50; 95% CI 1-77-12-82). A total of 12 cases of pleural and one of peritoneal mesotheliomas was observed when the original notification forms were reviewed for all patients with cancer in the cohort.
International journal of occupational medicine and environmental health, 2015
Occupational exposure to asbestos is associated with increased mortality which, however, has not been thoroughly validated in a general population. We have aimed at exploring whether this association may be confirmed within a population-based setting after adjustment for confounders. Furthermore, the impact of tobacco consumption on the association between occupational exposure to asbestos and mortality is assessed. We used data from 2072 (224 exposed) male participants of the Study of Health in Pomerania. Information on exposure to asbestos is based on a selfreport. Median follow-up time was 11.3 years. All-cause mortality and cause-specific mortality of exposed and non-exposed men were compared using mortality rate ratios, Kaplan-Meier analyses and multivariable Cox regression. During the follow-up, 52 (23.2%) exposed and 320 (17.3%) non-exposed participants deceased. Exposed subjects had increased hazard ratios (HR) for all-cause mortality (HR=1.48, 95% CI: 1.1-2), benign lung di...
Survival in cohorts of asbestos cement workers and controls
Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 1996
Objectives-To measure the impact on survival of being exposed to asbestos cement dust. Methods-Survival of 866 asbestos cement workers and 755 controls was studied with Cox's proportional hazards regression models with age as the basic time variable. The effect of cumulative exposure up to the age of 40 was investigated in an internal analysis of 635 asbestos cement workers who had dose estimates. Results-The death risk was higher for the asbestos cement workers than for the controls with a hazard ratio (HR) of 1-15 (95% confidence interval was 1 00 to 1.31). The increased risk found seemed to be confined to the period 20-40 years from start of employment. The estimates of the cohort effect were almost unaffected by adjustment for smoking habits. The estimates of the exposure effect rose with increasing dose (< 4 fibre-years/ml (f-y/ml): HR = 100, 4-9.9 f-y/ml: HR = 1-06, > 10 f-y/ml: HR = 1*35, for
Estimated Cancer Risk Associated with Occupational Asbestos Exposure
Risk Analysis, 1981
This paper estimates the number of workers in the United States who were occupationally exposed to asbestos during and after World War I1 and assesses the impact of this exposure on overall cancer mortality. The results suggest that over half of the estimated 7-8 million potentially exposed workers employed between 1940 and 1970 may still be alive and at risk of dying from some form of asbestos-related cancer. While the maximum number of excess cancer deaths associated with this occupational exposure is likely to occur sometime in this decade, such deaths will continue to be seen for many years thereafter. At their peak, these deaths may account for an estimated 3% of the annual cancer death toll, with an associated range of 1.4-4.456.
La Medicina del lavoro
This review assesses the contribution of occupational asbestos exposure to the occurrence of mesothelioma and lung cancer in Europe. Available information on national asbestos consumption, proportions of the population exposed, and exposure levels is summarized. Population-based studies from various European regions on occupational asbestos exposure, mesothelioma, and lung cancer are reviewed. Asbestos consumption in 1994 ranged, per capita, between 0.004 kg in northern Europe and 2.4 kg in the former Soviet Union. Population surveys from northern Europe indicate that 15 to 30% of the male (and a few percent of the female) population has ever had occupational exposure to asbestos, mainly in construction (75% in Finland) or in shipyards. Studies on mesothelioma combining occupational history with biologic exposure indices indicate occupational asbestos exposure in 62 to 85% of the cases. Population attributable risks for lung cancer among males range between 2 and 50% for definite asbestos exposure. After exclusion of the most extreme values because of methodologic aspects, most of the remaining estimates are within the range of 10 to 20%. Estimates of women are lower. Extrapolation of the results to national figures would decrease the estimates. Norwegian estimates indicate that one-third of expected asbestos-related lung cancers might be avoided if former asbestos workers quit smoking. The combination of a current high asbestos consumption per capita, high exposure levels, and high underlying lung cancer rates in Central Europe and the former Soviet Union suggests that the lung cancers will arise from the smoking-asbestos interaction should be a major concern.
Mortality Experience in an Historical Cohort of Chrysotile Asbestos Textile Workers
2000
Introduction and aims The issue of whether exposure to chrysotile asbestos causes lung cancer, mesothelioma and non- malignant diseases was investigated in an historical cohort in Grugliasco, Italy, where the largest Italian asbestos textile factory had been in operation until 1986. In this urban area there are important mortality differences by social class. Methods The study cohort comprised 1,653 asbestos
Mortality among long-term employees of an Ontario asbestos-cement factory
British journal of industrial medicine, 1983
Mortality was studied among a group of 328 employees of an Ontario asbestos-cement factory who had been hired before 1960 and who had been employed for a minimum of nine years. The group of 87 men who had worked in the rock wool/fibre glass operations, or who had been otherwise minimally exposed to asbestos, had mortality rates similar to those of the general Ontario population, while the group of asbestos-exposed employees had all-cause mortality rates double those of the Ontario population, mortality rates due to malignancies five times higher than expected, and deaths attributed to lung cancer eight times more frequent than expected. According to the best evidence available, 10 of 58 deaths among the production workers were due to malignant mesothelioma and 20 to lung cancer. The men dying of mesothelioma were younger than the men dying of lung cancer with mean ages at death of 51 and 64 years respectively. An exposure model was constructed on the basis of the available air sampl...