Exposure-response analysis and risk assessment for lung cancer in relationship to silica exposure: a 44-year cohort study of 34,018 workers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Chen W ; Hnizdo, Eva ; Huang X ; Liu Y ; Rong Y ; Shi T ; Steenland, Kyle ; Wu T ; Yi S ; Zhang H
• Description:
  Crystalline silica has been classified as a human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (Lyon, France); however, few previous studies have provided quantitative data on silica exposure, silicosis, and/or smoking. We investigated a cohort in China (in 1960-2003) of 34,018 workers without exposure to carcinogenic confounders. Cumulative silica exposure was estimated by linking a job-exposure matrix to work history. Cox proportional hazards model was used to conduct exposure-response analysis and risk assessment. During a mean 34.5-year follow-up, 546 lung cancer deaths were identified. Categorical analyses by quartiles of cumulative silica exposure (using a 25-year lag) yielded hazard ratios of 1.26, 1.54, 1.68, and 1.70, respectively, compared with the unexposed group. Monotonic exposure-response trends were observed among nonsilicotics (P for trend < 0.001). Analyses using splines showed similar trends. The joint effect of silica and smoking was more than additive and close to multiplicative. For workers exposed from ages 20 to 65 years at 0.1 mg/m3 of silica exposure, the estimated excess lifetime risk (through age 75 years) was 0.51%. These findings confirm silica as a human carcinogen and suggest that current exposure limits in many countries might be insufficient to protect workers from lung cancer. They also indicate that smoking cessation could help reduce lung cancer risk for silica-exposed individuals. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Carcinogens Environmental Monitoring Epidemiology Longevity Lung Lung Diseases Mortality Neoplasms Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Silicon Dioxide Silicosis Smokers Tobacco Products

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• Keywords:
  Analytical-models Analytical-processes Author Keywords: Cohort Cancer Cancer-rates Cigarette-smoking Dose-response Employee-exposure Exposure-assessment Exposure-limits Exposure-response Analysis Humans Job-analysis Lifespan Lung-cancer Lung Cancer Mortality-data Mortality-rates Pulmonary-system-disorders Quantitative-analysis Respiratory-system-disorders Risk Assessment Silica Silica-dusts Smoking Surveillance

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• ISSN:
  0002-9262
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Georgia ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DRDS - Division of Respiratory Disease Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  178
• Issue:
  9
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20043159
• Citation:
  Am J Epidemiol 2013 Nov; 178(9):1424-1433
• Contact Point Address:
  Dr. Weihong Chen, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 13 Hangkong Road, Wuhan, Hubei 430030, China
• Email:
  wchen@mails.tjmu.edu.cn
• CAS Registry Number:
  Quartz (SiO2) (CAS RN 14808-60-7) ; Silica (CAS RN 7631-86-9)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2014
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction ; Mining
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Epidemiology
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:51cdf25aa9ca3cd5fdee4993a95c61183d23a4709b36b6bcbe92f752fe2896d54a360ecd0d7714b6dd6cf5b5a0b86a10fd24641fcaa071b5079293a5642cfa77
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/195155/cdc_195155_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 736.46 KB ]