Is Silicosis Required for Silica-Associated Lung Cancer?

Details

• Personal Author:
  Checkoway, Harvey ; Franzblau, Alfred
• Description:
  Abundant epidemiologic and experimental evidence supports the 1997 International Agency for Research on Cancer classification of crystalline silica as a human lung carcinogen. Nonetheless, there remains uncertainty about whether excessive lung cancer occurs exclusively among workers with silicosis. A review was performed of published occupational epidemiologic literature directly pertinent to the interrelations among silica exposure, silicosis, and lung cancer. The association between silica and lung cancer is generally, but not uniformly, stronger among silicotics than nonsilicotics. However, the existing literature is ambiguous due to incomplete or biased ascertainment of silicosis, inadequate exposure assessment, and the inherently strong correlation between silica exposure and silicosis which hinders efforts to disentangle unique contributions to lung cancer risk. Until more conclusive epidemiologic findings become available, population-based or individually-based risk assessments should treat silicosis and lung cancer as distinct entities whose cause/effect relations are not necessarily linked. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aluminum Silicates Biomarkers Epidemiology Lung Lung Diseases Neoplasms Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Pneumoconiosis Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Silicon Dioxide Silicosis Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Silica Exposure-levels Lung-cancer Lung Cancer Occupational-exposure Occupational-health Occupational Health Pulmonary-system-disorders Respiratory-system-disorders Risk-factors Silica-dusts Silicates Work-environment Workers

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• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 10 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  252-259
• Volume:
  37
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20024512
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2000 Mar; 37(3):252-259
• Contact Point Address:
  Harvey Checkoway, University of Washington, Department of Environmental Health, Box 357234 Seattle, WA 98195-7234
• Email:
  checko@u.washington.edu
• CAS Registry Number:
  Quartz (SiO2) (CAS RN 14808-60-7)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2000
• Performing Organization:
  University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19940401
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• End Date:
  19960331
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:6b52aa7f28a7c813dd8ddf88460d3d5eb3a832d93422f29e41f036917ec46c9d039945f7d9afcab318df8e20a653b9260f2b5037e1114f40698f2d0e593d6481
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/196282/cdc_196282_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 110.71 KB ]