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Lung cancer risk and welding: Results from a case‐control study in Germany
Author(s) -
Jöckel KarlHeinz,
Ahrens Wolfgang,
Pohlabeln Hermann,
BolmAudorff Ulrich,
Müller Klaus Michael
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0274(199804)33:4<313::aid-ajim1>3.0.co;2-v
Subject(s) - medicine , asbestos , odds ratio , lung cancer , confidence interval , case control study , population , confounding , epidemiology , surgery , environmental health , metallurgy , materials science
In a case‐control study, 839 male hospital‐based cases of primary lung cancer and the same number of population‐based controls—matched by sex, age, and region of residence—were personally interviewed for their job and smoking histories. The study allows to quantify occupational asbestos exposure that was thought to be a welding‐associated risk: 6% of cases and 2% of controls were classified into the occupational category “welders or burners” (odds ratio [OR] = 2.65). This OR was reduced to 1.93 (95% confidence limit [CL]: 1.03–3.61) after adjustment for smoking and asbestos. In contrast, a history of welding in general for at least a half‐year is 28% among cases and 23% among controls, yielding an OR of 1.25 (95% CL: 0.94–1.65) after adjustment for both confounders. The OR of welding for more than 6,000 hr is 1.45 (95% CL = 1.04–2.02), reduced to 1.10 after adjustment for smoking and asbestos. Oxyacetylene welding for more than 6,000 hr lifelong is associated with an OR of 1.86 (95% CL = 1.01–3.43) reduced to 1.46 (n.s.) after adjustment for smoking and asbestos. The risk of oxyacetylene welding seems to be highest for oat cell carcinoma with an adjusted OR for ever‐exposure of 1.46 (95% CL = 0.69–3.10). Therefore, the present study supports the hypothesis that some, but not all, of the excess risk of welders observed in the literature may be due to a history of cigarette smoking and occupanional asbestos exposure. The elevated risk for the subgroup of employees in the aircraft industry reported for the midterm evaluation of the study still prevails, though no longer statistically significant. However, employees in this industry who ever welded show an OR of 2.29 (95% CL = 1.19–4.42) after adjustment for smoking and asbestos. Am. J. Ind. Med. 33:313–320, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.