Cancer mortality in the meat and delicatessen departments of supermarkets (1950-2006)

Details

• Personal Author:
  Cardarelli K ; Chedjieu IP ; Faramawi M ; Fischbach L ; Jadhav S ; Johnson ES ; Katyal A ; Ndetan H ; Patel KV ; Wells TL
• Description:
  Meat cutters and meat wrappers in the meat department of supermarkets are exposed to oncogenic viruses present in raw meat from cattle, pigs, sheep, and poultry, and their products (unpasteurized milk and raw eggs). Up to the mid 1970s, meat wrappers were also exposed to carcinogens present in fumes emitted from the machine used to wrap meat. Because of this we studied cancer mortality in a cohort of 10,701 workers in the meat and delicatessen departments of supermarkets, and we report here the findings after the third follow-up. Standardized mortality ratios (SMR) were estimated in the cohort as a whole and in race/sex subgroups, using the US population for comparison. Study subjects were followed up from January 1950 to December 2006. Significantly increased SMRs of 1.3 (95% CI, 1.2-1.5), and 2.7 (95% CI, 1.2-5.3) were recorded for cancers of the lung, and tonsils/oropharynx, respectively, in the entire cohort, affecting nearly all race/sex subgroups. SMRs of 4.6 (95% CI, 1.0-13.6) for cancer of the floor of the mouth, and 2.8 (95% CI, 1.3-5.3) for cancer of the gall bladder and biliary tract were recorded only in White male meatcutters. Significantly decreased SMRs were observed for a few cancers. It is not known if the observed excess of cancers is a result of occupational exposures. However, substantial evidence points to fumes from the wrapping machine as a possible candidate for explaining the excess in female meat wrappers. Nested case-control studies that can examine risks from occupational exposures in greater detail, and adequately control for confounding factors are now needed, to permit specifically investigate the role of the oncogenic viruses, fumes and non-occupational risk factors in the occurrence of these cancers. The findings are important, not only occupationally but also because the general population may also experience these exposures, albeit to a lesser degree. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Animals Demography Food-Processing Industry Food Handling Food Industry Men Mortality Neoplasms Occupational Health Public Health Race Factors Safety Sex Characteristics Viral Diseases Women

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• Keywords:
  Animal-products Animal-products-workers Author Keywords: Oncogenic Viruses Cancer Cancer-rates Cattle Demographic-characteristics Food-handlers Food-processing Food-processing-industry Food-processing-workers Food Animals Grocery-stores Humans Meat-handlers Meat-packing-industry Meatcutters Meat Processing Meatwrappers Mortality-data Mortality-rates Poultry Public-health Racial-factors Retail-workers Sex-factors Statistical-analysis Viral-diseases Viral-infections

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• ISSN:
  0160-4120
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Arkansas ; OSHA Region 6 ; Texas
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  70-75
• Volume:
  77
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20047165
• Citation:
  Environ Int 2015 Apr; 77:70-75
• Contact Point Address:
  E.S. Johnson, Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W. Markham St., Little Rock, AR 72205, USA
• Email:
  esjohnson@uams.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2015
• Performing Organization:
  University of North Texas, Health Science Center
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20070901
• Source Full Name:
  Environment International
• End Date:
  20100831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e2a563af76b388598c5373f427853e65921a397a481e45c0c7cc040f5542ec94f7b78d21b511d43d3f55d1464eedaa1ef67ec0e43e14d6507d346f4a01fed3e0
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/202334/cdc_202334_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 277.09 KB ]