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Estimated effects of solvents and mineral oils on cancer incidence and mortality in a cohort of aerospace workers
Author(s) -
Zhao Yingxu,
Krishnadasan Anusha,
Kennedy Nola,
Morgenstern Hal,
Ritz Beate
Publication year - 2005
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/ajim.20216
Subject(s) - medicine , hazard ratio , incidence (geometry) , standardized mortality ratio , cancer , lung cancer , cohort study , cohort , confidence interval , physics , optics
Background A retrospective cohort study of workers employed at a California aerospace company between 1950 and 1993 was conducted; it examined cancer mortality from exposures to the rocket fuel hydrazine. Methods In this study, we employed a job exposure matrix (JEM) to assess exposures to other known or suspected carcinogens—including trichloroethylene (TCE), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), mineral oils, and benzene—on cancer mortality (1960–2001) and incidence (1988–2000) in 6,107 male workers. We derived rate‐ (hazard‐) ratios estimates from Cox proportional hazard models with time‐dependent exposures. Results High levels of TCE exposure were positively associated with cancer incidence of the bladder (rate ratio (RR): 1.98, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.93–4.22) and kidney (4.90; 1.23–19.6). High levels of exposure to mineral oils increased mortality and incidence of lung cancer (1.56; 1.02–2.39 and 1.99; 1.03–3.85), and incidence of melanoma (3.32; 1.20–9.24). Mineral oil exposures also contributed to incidence and mortality of esophageal and stomach cancers and of non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma and leukemia when adjusting for other chemical exposures. Lagging exposure measures by 20 years changed effect estimates only minimally. No associations were observed for benzene or PAH exposures in this cohort. Conclusions Our findings suggest that these aerospace workers who were highly exposed to mineral oils experienced an increased risk of developing and/or dying from cancers of the lung, melanoma, and possibly from cancers of the esophagus and stomach and non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma and leukemia. These results and the increases we observed for TCE and kidney cancers are consistent with findings of previous studies. Am. J. Ind. Med. 48:249–258, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.