Risk of lung cancer associated with quantitative beryllium exposure metrics within an occupational cohort

Details

• Personal Author:
  Couch, James R. ; Deddens JA ; Petersen, Martin R. ; Schubauer-Berigan, Mary K.
• Description:
  Objectives: Beryllium has been identified as a human carcinogen on the basis of animal and epidemiological studies. The authors recently reported updated associations between lung cancer and beryllium exposure in a large, pooled occupational cohort. The authors conducted the present study to evaluate the shape of exposure-response associations between different exposure metrics and lung cancer in this cohort, considering potential confounders (race, plant, professional and short-term work status, and exposure to other lung carcinogens). Methods: The authors conducted Cox proportional hazards regression analyses of lung cancer risk with cumulative, mean and maximum 'daily weighted average' (DWA) exposure among 5436 workers, using age-based risk sets. Different exposure-response curves were fitted to the exposure metrics, including categorical, power, restricted cubic spline and piecewise log-linear fits. Results: The authors found significant positive associations between lung cancer and mean (p<0.0001) and maximum (p<0.0001) exposure, adjusting for age, birth cohort and plant, and for cumulative (p=0.0017) beryllium exposure, adjusting for these factors plus short-term work status and exposure to asbestos. The best-fitting models were generally categorical or piecewise log-linear, with the steepest increase in lung cancer risk between 0 and 10 µg/m3 for both mean and maximum DWA exposure and between 0 and 200 µg/m3-days for cumulative DWA exposure. The estimated mean DWA beryllium exposure associated with 10(-3) excess lifetime risk based on the piecewise log-linear model is 0.033 µg/m3. Conclusion: This study provides evidence that lung cancer risk is elevated at levels near the current US Occupational Safety and Health Administration beryllium exposure limit of 2.0 µg/m3 DWA for workers. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Beryllium Carcinogens Epidemiology Longevity Lung Lung Diseases Neoplasms Occupational Health Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Risk Assessment Safety

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• Keywords:
  Beryllium-compounds Cancer Cancer-rates Dose-response Exposure-limits Lifespan Lung-cancer Mathematical-models Permissible-limits Risk-analysis Statistical-analysis

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• ISSN:
  1351-0711
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  354-360
• Volume:
  68
• Issue:
  5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20037959
• Citation:
  Occup Environ Med 2011 May; 68(5):354-360
• Contact Point Address:
  Dr. Mary K. Schubauer-Berigan, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies, MS-R15, 4676 Columbia Parkway, Cincinnati, OH 45226, USA
• Email:
  zcg3@cdc.gov
• CAS Registry Number:
  Beryllium (CAS RN 7440-41-7)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2011
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:9bffe81cee904b0a1ada4d0e9aa028826c6da23bfa23ed51259c2de4192821f3b890a67c7f2542f6d9320c59be901b9391e233a4ca1ce048537b2b7510ef007f
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/191860/cdc_191860_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 156.42 KB ]