Cancer, Heart Disease, and Diabetes in Workers Exposed to 2,3, 7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-P-Dioxin

Details

• Personal Author:
  Chang L ; Deddens J ; Fingerhut, Marilyn A. ; Piacitelli, Laurie A. ; Steenland, Kyle
• Description:
  In 1997, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) as a group 1 human carcinogen, based largely on four highly exposed industrial cohorts that showed an excess of all cancers combined. In this study, we extended the follow-up period for the largest of these cohorts by 6 years and developed a job-exposure matrix. We did cohort mortality analyses involving 5132 chemical workers at 12 U.S. plants by use of life table techniques (U.S. population referent) and Cox regression (internal referent). We conducted exposure-response analyses for 69% of the cohort with adequate work history data and adequate plant data on TCDD contamination. All P values are two-sided. The standardized mortality ratio (SMR) for all cancers combined was 1.13 (95% confidence interval = 1.02-1.25). We found statistically significant positive linear trends in SMRs with increasing exposure for all cancers combined and for lung cancer. The SMR for all cancers combined for the highest exposure group was 1.60 (95% confidence interval = 1.15-1.82). SMRs for heart disease showed a weak increasing trend with higher exposure (P = .14). Diabetes (any mention on the death certificate) showed a negative exposure-response trend. Internal analyses with Cox regression found statistically significant trends for cancer (15-year lag time) and heart disease (no lag). Our analyses suggest that high TCDD exposure results in an excess of all cancers combined, without any marked specificity. However, excess cancer was limited to the highest exposed workers, with exposures that were likely to have been 100-1000 times higher than those experienced by the general population and similar to the TCDD levels used in animal studies. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Animals Carcinogens Lung Lung Diseases Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Mortality Neoplasms Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety

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• Keywords:
  Animal-studies Cancer Chemical-factory-workers Diseases Exposure-levels Heart Lung-cancer Mortality-data Mortality-rates Occupational-exposure Pulmonary-system-disorders Respiratory-system-disorders Worker-health Workers

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• ISSN:
  0027-8874
• 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
• Volume:
  91
• Issue:
  9
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20025614
• Citation:
  J Natl Cancer Inst 1999 May; 91(9):779-786
• Contact Point Address:
  Kyle Steenland, Ph.D., International Agency for Research on Cancer, 150 Cours Albert Thomas, 69372 Lyon, France
• Email:
  steenland@iarc.fr
• CAS Registry Number:
  2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (CAS RN 1746-01-6)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1999
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of the National Cancer Institute
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:c8e56c9f5db7ccfc58ad9e66f41723fac2285eb588bb46ef285b3e3e3e40dc5c31e16a7e7d488384bee02073974b6c7c83fe5b84415ee8c0b70ef1dd440e6517
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/196900/cdc_196900_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 132.99 KB ]