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Occupational Lead Exposure and Associations with Selected Cancers: The Shanghai Men's and Women's Health Study Cohorts.
- Source :
-
Environmental Health Perspectives . Jan2016, Vol. 124 Issue 1, p97-103. 7p. 4 Charts. - Publication Year :
- 2016
-
Abstract
- BACKGROUND: Epidemiologic studies of occupational lead exposure have suggested increased risks of cancers of the stomach, lung, kidney, brain, and meninges; however, the totality of the evidence is inconsistent. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the relationship between occupational lead exposure and cancer incidence at the five abovementioned sites in two prospective cohorts in Shanghai, China. METHODS: Annual job/industry-specific estimates of lead fume and lead dust exposure, derived from a statistical model combining expert lead intensity ratings with inspection measurements, were applied to the lifetime work histories of participants from the Shanghai Women's Health Study (SWHS; n = 73,363) and the Shanghai Men's Health Study (SMHS; n = 61,379) to estimate cumulative exposure to lead fume and lead dust. These metrics were then combined into an overall occupational lead exposure variable. Cohort-specific relative hazard rate ratios (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) comparing exposed and unexposed participants were estimated using Cox proportional hazards regression and combined by meta-analysis. RESULTS: The proportions of SWHS and SMHS participants with estimated occupational lead exposure were 8.9% and 6.9%, respectively. Lead exposure was positively associated with menin-gioma risk in women only (n = 38 unexposed and 9 exposed cases; RR = 2.4; 95% CI: 1.1, 5.0), particularly with above-median cumulative exposure (RR = 3.1; 95% CI: 1.3, 7.4). However, all 12 meningioma cases among men were classified as unexposed to lead. We also observed nonsignificant associations with lead exposure for cancers of the kidney (n = 157 unexposed and 17 ever exposed cases; RR = 1.4; 95% CI: 0.9, 2.3) and brain (n = 67 unexposed and 10 ever exposed cases; RR = 1.8; 95% CI: 0.7, 4.8) overall. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings, though limited by small numbers of cases, suggest that lead is associated with the risk of several cancers in women and men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- *BRAIN tumor risk factors
*BRAIN tumors
*CONFIDENCE intervals
*EPIDEMIOLOGICAL research
*KIDNEY tumors
*LEAD
*LONGITUDINAL method
*LUNG tumors
*MENINGIOMA
*RESEARCH funding
*OCCUPATIONAL hazards
*STOMACH tumors
*ENVIRONMENTAL exposure
*DISEASE incidence
*PROPORTIONAL hazards models
*DESCRIPTIVE statistics
*TUMOR risk factors
*DISEASE risk factors
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00916765
- Volume :
- 124
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Environmental Health Perspectives
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 112048567
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1408171