World Cancer Day – Cancer Detectives in the Workplace

Today is World Cancer Day. Around nan world, 12.7 cardinal group are diagnosed pinch crab each year, and nan number is expected to summation owed to nan maturation and aging of nan population, arsenic good arsenic reductions successful puerility mortality and deaths from infectious diseases successful processing countries (ACS 2011). Cancer is nan starring origin of decease successful developed countries and nan 2nd starring origin of decease successful processing countries.

Cancer is simply a group of diseases characterized by uncontrolled maturation and dispersed of abnormal cells. If nan dispersed is not controlled, it tin consequence successful death.

Environmental factors (those that whitethorn hap people aliases whitethorn beryllium introduced into environments wherever group live, work, and play), sometimes successful operation pinch inherited susceptibilities, are important causes of cancer. These biology factors tin see a wide scope of exposures, specified as:

• Lifestyle factors specified arsenic nutrition and baccy use
• Naturally occurring exposures to ultraviolet light, radon gas, and infectious agents
• Medical treatments, including chemotherapy, radiation, immune system-suppressing drugs, and different medicines
• Household exposures
• Pollution
• Workplace exposures

It has been estimated that 3-6% of each cancers worldwide are caused by exposures to carcinogens successful nan workplace (Driscoll et al. 2005; Rushton et al. 2012). Based connected crab incidence numbers successful nan U.S. (CDC 2014), this intends that successful 2010 (the astir caller twelvemonth available), location were betwixt 43,695 and 87,390 caller crab cases that were caused by past vulnerability successful nan workplace. Worldwide, this translates to betwixt 381,000 and 762,000 caller cancers each twelvemonth caused by occupational exposure. This is astir apt an under-estimate, partially because we don’t yet cognize astir each of nan agents successful nan workplace that whitethorn origin cancer. Cancers that hap arsenic a consequence of exposures successful nan workplace are preventable, if exposures to known aliases suspected carcinogens tin beryllium reduced.

At NIOSH, we are conducting studies to place beingness and chemic agents successful nan workplace associated pinch nan improvement of cancer. One measurement we do this is by carrying retired epidemiologic studies among moving populations to find which workplace exposures mightiness beryllium linked to cancer.

Recent NIOSH crab epidemiology studies:

Since 2012, NIOSH investigators person published findings from 24 studies of workplace-related crab (see afloat database here). These studies person evaluated nan consequence of crab from a wide assortment of beingness and chemic agents. Studies person included:

• particulates, fibers, and metals (such arsenic diesel exhaust, asbestos, cadmium metal) and their relation pinch lung cancer;
• chlorinated solvents and pesticides and their relation pinch glioma;
• ortho-toluidine and its relation pinch bladder cancer; and
• formaldehyde, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and ionizing radiation and their relation pinch a assortment of cancers, including leukemia.
• Other precocious published NIOSH studies person focused connected consequence of crab successful circumstantial industries (such arsenic building and microelectronics manufacturing), arsenic good arsenic occupations (such arsenic ember miners, formation crew, and firefighters).

While excessively galore to picture successful item successful this blog, immoderate of nan cardinal findings of these precocious published studies include:

• Lung crab was elevated successful a cohort of non-metal miners and consequence was importantly associated pinch diesel exhaust vulnerability (Attfield et al. 2012; Silverman et al. 2012). These findings were a cardinal portion of nan caller determination by nan International Agency for Research connected Cancer (IARC) to designate diesel exhaust arsenic a Group 1 (known human) carcinogen (IARC 2013).
• The incidence of bladder crab was highly elevated among rubber manufacturing workers and was powerfully associated pinch workplace ortho-toluidine vulnerability (Carreón et al. 2013). The National Toxicology Program utilized grounds from this study successful its 2013 draft appraisal of ortho-toluidine for nan NTP’s Report connected Carcinogens. The findings from this cohort study were besides influential successful IARC’s caller determination of ortho-toluidine to beryllium a Group 1 carcinogen (IARC 2012).
• NIOSH researchers assembled a largest-of-its benignant cohort of firefighters from 3 U.S. cities (Chicago, Philadelphia, and San Francisco). This cohort knowledgeable higher than expected rates of wide crab and of circumstantial cancers, specified arsenic mesothelioma and cancers of nan respiratory and digestive tract (Daniels et al. 2013).
• Recent findings astir mesothelioma and lung crab related to asbestos vulnerability person shed caller ray connected nan value of size and style connected nan carcinogenicity of that good studied agent. These findings whitethorn person important implications for early consequence assessments of nan hazards associated pinch asbestos vulnerability (Elliott et al. 2012; Loomis et al. 2012).

NIOSH’s occupational crab investigation programme has had a ample effect connected nan nationalist and world information of nan carcinogenicity of chemic and beingness agents. The programme has besides influenced nan improvement of risk-based vulnerability limit recommendations by NIOSH, OSHA, and different nationalist and world organizations. We expect that findings from ongoing studies successful nan programme will proceed to beryllium influential successful these realms, and will stay an important instrumentality for world crab prevention into nan future.

Future occupational crab research

In 2009, IARC, nan American Cancer Society, and NIOSH (through nan National Occupational Research Agenda) convened an master group of scientists to create investigation recommendations to further measure nan carcinogenicity of 20 imaginable carcinogens (IARC 2009; Ward et al. 2010). We are willing successful your input connected priorities for early epidemiologic investigation of imaginable occupational carcinogens!

One past thought: In summation to the crab epidemiology program, NIOSH has a wide scope of different activity going connected related to preventing occupational crab – look for summaries of immoderate of this different activity successful early blogs.

Mary K. Schubauer-Berigan, Ph.D.;  Tania Carreόn-Valencia, Ph.D.; Avima M. Ruder, Ph.D.; Lynne E. Pinkerton, M.D., M.P.H.

Drs. Schubauer-Berigan, Carreόn-Valencia, Ruder, and Pinkerton are investigation epidemiologists successful nan NIOSH Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations and Field studies.

Recent NIOSH Studies and Other Cited References