Extended follow-up of lung cancer and non-malignant respiratory disease mortality among California diatomaceous earth workers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Checkoway, Harvey ; Gallagher LG ; Park RM
• Description:
  Objectives: Millions of workers worldwide are employed in occupations involving potentiality hazardous exposure to crystalline silica. The diatomaceous earth industry can have particularly high exposures, but there is a lower likelihood of simultaneously occurring confounding exposures. We extended follow-up for diatomaceous earth industry workers previously studied for mortality. Methods: The cohort included 2342 white men who were employed for at least 1 year at a diatomaceous earth plant in Lompoc, California beginning in 1942. Workers' vital status was updated using the National Death Index through 2011, an extension of 19 years from earlier studies. Detailed work history and quantitative air monitoring measurements estimated exposure intensity. Cox proportional hazards modelling estimated HRs and 95% CIs. SMRs were calculated. Results: Elevated mortality was observed by quartile of cumulative crystalline silica exposure for lung cancer (HR=2.03, 95% CI 1.07 to 3.85, highest quartile, unlagged) and non-malignant respiratory disease (NMRD) (HR=3.59, 95% CI 1.94 to 6.67, highest quartile, unlagged), although trends were not statistically significant. Associations were attenuated when adjusted for smoking and asbestos exposure. Mortality from NMRD was significantly increased over the entire followup compared to the general population (SMR=1.37, 95% CI 1.17 to 1.60). An increase for lung cancer was confined to the earlier follow-up (SMR=1.29, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.61). Conclusions: The risk of lung cancer and NMRD mortality remained elevated, although generally nonsignificant, and exposure-response trends with cumulative crystalline silica persisted on extended followup of this cohort. The findings support a generally consistently observed aetiological relation between crystalline silica and lung cancer. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Aluminum Silicates Dust Environmental Monitoring Irritants Lung Lung Diseases Men Neoplasms Occupational Health Particulate Matter Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Silicon Dioxide

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• Keywords:
  Air-monitoring Airborne-dusts Airborne-particles Cancer Exposure-levels Hazards Humans Lung-cancer Lung-disease Models Monitoring-systems Pulmonary-function Pulmonary-system Pulmonary-system-disorders Respiratory-irritants Respiratory-system-disorders Risk-factors Silica-dusts Silicates Silicosis

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• ISSN:
  1351-0711
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant ; Interagency Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 9 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  EID - Education and Information Division ; DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  360-365
• Volume:
  72
• Issue:
  5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20045891
• Citation:
  Occup Environ Med 2015 May; 72(5):360-365
• Contact Point Address:
  Dr. Lisa G Gallagher, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Box 357234, Seattle, WA 98195
• Email:
  lgallag@u.washington.edu
• CAS Registry Number:
  Quartz (SiO2) (CAS RN 14808-60-7) ; Silica (CAS RN 7631-86-9)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2015
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction ; Mining
• Performing Organization:
  University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19940401
• Source Full Name:
  Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• End Date:
  19960331
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:cfccfe5c8ae0629b8bf217aff371640b385de64c84570107319429e1b947495bbc47ea1968e91565c1e98e0a23fae65c943ff7a9d510ec6c11f02dc18b847009
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/201138/cdc_201138_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 286.95 KB ]