Retrospective Cohort Study of Diesel Exhaust Exposure and Lung Cancer in US Railroad Workers: Mortality Update 1959–1996

Details

• Personal Author:
  Dockery DW ; Gagnon D ; Garshick E ; Jackson SL ; Laden F ; Smith, Thomas J. ; Speizer FE
• Description:
  RATIONALE: Studies of diesel exhaust exposure and lung cancer have been limited by a short duration of follow-up. Most US railroad diesel exhaust exposure started during the 1950's (95% diesel by 1959). Lung cancer mortality was previously assessed through 1976 in 55,407 US railroad workers aged 40-64 in 1959. Here we assess mortality through 1996. METHODS: The US Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) provided work history for 54,974 (99.2%) workers. Mortality was assessed using RRB, Social Security, and Health Care Financing Administration sources. Cause of death was obtained from death certificates and the National Death Index. Proportional hazard methods were used to assess mortality. Job code in 1959 was used as an exposure index since railroad jobs are stable. RESULTS: There were 43,600 deaths overall; 4,277 from lung cancer. Adjusting for age, workers aged 40-44 in a diesel exhaust exposed job in 1959 (workers with greatest duration of exposure) had an elevated relative risk (RR; 95%CI) of lung cancer mortality of 1.36 (1.19-1.55). Workers aged 45-49, 50-54,55-59 also had an elevated RR (1.23, 1.22, 1.32, respectively), whereas the RR in the oldest workers (60-64) was not elevated. Workers on operating trains had the greatest RR. CONCLUSIONS: Workers aged 40-59 in diesel exhaust exposed jobs in 1959 had an increased risk of dying of lung cancer. Although the age group with the longest exposures after 1959 had an elevated risk, risk was also elevated in other workers. Occupational exposures to diesel exhaust and other inhaled particles in the 1940's to 1960's may be contributors to lung cancer mortality in this cohort. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Age Factors Carcinogens Environmental Monitoring Lung Lung Diseases Mortality Neoplasms Occupational Health Railroads Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Vehicle Emissions

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• Keywords:
  Age-factors Cancer Diesel-emissions Diesel-engines Diesel-exhausts Exhaust-gases Exposure-assessment Exposure-levels Lung-cancer Lung-disorders Mortality-data Mortality-rates Railroad-industry Respiratory-system-disorders

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• ISSN:
  1073-449X
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  163
• Issue:
  5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20035698
• Citation:
  Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2001 Apr; 163(5)(2)(Suppl):A718
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2001
• NORA Priority Area:
  Work Environment and Workforce: Mixed Exposures
• Performing Organization:
  Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Part Number:
  2
• Start Date:
  19990930
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. Abstracts of the American Thoracic Society 2001 International Conference, May 18-23, 2001, San Francisco, California
• Supplement:
  Suppl
• End Date:
  20020929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:665688addbf24e45317cdccb9d03596efb932e08f9f3c036303b9aea2de13bc3b2d21cef9972355b99076fe879d18a5d58a867ad5af4bab1c6d1ea2b4a09b794
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/187474/cdc_187474_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 318.23 KB ]