Cancer and non-cancer mortality among French uranium cycle workers: the TRACY cohort.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Samson E
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4823425 | biostudies-other | 2016 Apr
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other
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Project description:To examine the patterns of cause-specific mortality and relationship between internal exposure to uranium and specific causes in a pooled cohort of 29,303 workers employed at three former uranium enrichment facilities in the United States with follow-up through 2011.Cause-specific standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) for the full cohort were calculated with the U.S. population as referent. Internal comparison of the dose-response relation between selected outcomes and estimated organ doses was evaluated using regression models.External comparison with the U.S. population showed significantly lower SMRs in most diseases in the pooled cohort. Internal comparison showed positive associations of absorbed organ doses with multiple myeloma, and to a lesser degree with kidney cancer.In general, these gaseous diffusion plant workers had significantly lower SMRs than the U.S.The internal comparison however, showed associations between internal organ doses and diseases associated with uranium exposure in previous studies. Am. J. Ind. Med. 60:96-108, 2017. Published 2016. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.
| S-EPMC5708885 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectiveLinear and non-linear dose-response relationships between radiation absorbed dose to the lung from internally deposited uranium and external sources and circulatory system disease (CSD) mortality were examined in a cohort of 23 731 male and 5552 female US uranium enrichment workers.MethodsRate ratios (RRs) for categories of lung dose and linear excess relative rates (ERRs) per unit lung dose were estimated to evaluate the associations between lung absorbed dose and death from ischaemic heart disease (IHD) and cerebrovascular disease.ResultsThere was a suggestion of modestly increased IHD risk in workers with internal uranium lung dose above 1 milligray (mGy) (RR=1.4, 95% CI 0.76 to 2.3) and a statistically significantly increased IHD risk with external dose exceeding 150 mGy (RR=1.3, 95% CI 1.1 to 1.6) compared with the lowest exposed groups. ERRs per milligray were positive for IHD and uranium internal dose and for both outcomes per gray external dose, although the CIs generally included the null.ConclusionsNon-linear dose-response models using restricted cubic splines revealed sublinear responses at lower internal doses, suggesting that linear models that are common in radioepidemiological cancer studies may poorly describe the association between uranium internal dose and CSD mortality.
| S-EPMC8647719 | biostudies-literature
Project description:PurposeLong-term health risks of occupational exposures to uranium processing were examined to better understand potential differences with uranium underground miners and nuclear reactor workers.MethodsA cohort study of mortality of workers from Port Hope, Canada (1950-1999) and Wismut, Germany (1946-2008) employed in uranium milling, refining, and processing was conducted. Poisson regression was used to evaluate the association between cumulative exposures to radon decay products (RDP) and gamma-rays and causes of death potentially related to uranium processing.ResultsThe pooled cohort included 7431 workers (270,201 person-years of follow-up). Mean RDP exposures were lower than in miners while gamma-ray doses were higher than in reactor workers. Both exposures were highly correlated (weighted rho = 0.81). Radiation risks of lung cancer and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in males were increased but not statistically significant and compatible with risks estimated for miners and reactor workers, respectively. Higher RDP-associated CVD risks were observed for exposures 5-14 years prior to diagnosis compared to later exposures and among those employed <5 years. Radiation risks of solid cancers excluding lung cancer were increased, but not statistically significant, both for males and females, while all other causes of death were not associated with exposures.ConclusionsIn the largest study of uranium processing workers to systematically examine radiation risks of multiple outcomes from RDP exposures and gamma-rays, estimated radiation risks were compatible with risks reported for uranium miners and nuclear reactor workers. Continued follow-up and pooling with other cohorts of uranium processing workers are necessary for future comparisons with other workers of the nuclear fuel cycle.
| S-EPMC5752750 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Uranium processing workers are exposed to uranium and radium compounds from the ore dust and to ?-ray radiation, but less to radon decay products (RDP), typical of the uranium miners. We examined the risks of these exposures in a cohort of workers from Port Hope radium and uranium refinery and processing plant.A retrospective cohort study with carefully documented exposures, which allowed separation of those with primary exposures to radium and uranium.Port Hope, Ontario, Canada, uranium processors with no mining experience.3000 male and female workers first employed (1932-1980) and followed for mortality (1950-1999) and cancer incidence (1969-1999).Cohort mortality and incidence were compared with the general Canadian population. Poisson regression was used to evaluate the association between cumulative RDP exposures and ?-ray doses and causes of death and cancers potentially related to radium and uranium processing.Overall, workers had lower mortality and cancer incidence compared with the general Canadian population. In analyses restricted to men (n=2645), the person-year weighted mean cumulative RDP exposure was 15.9 working level months (WLM) and the mean cumulative whole-body ?-ray dose was 134.4 millisieverts. We observed small, non-statistically significant increases in radiation risks of mortality and incidence of lung cancer due to RDP exposures (excess relative risks/100 WLM=0.21, 95% CI <-0.45 to 1.59 and 0.77, 95% CI <-0.19 to 3.39, respectively), with similar risks for those exposed to radium and uranium. All other causes of death and cancer incidence were not significantly associated with RDP exposures or ?-ray doses or a combination of both.In one of the largest cohort studies of workers exposed to radium, uranium and ?-ray doses, no significant radiation-associated risks were observed for any cancer site or cause of death. Continued follow-up and pooling with other cohorts of workers exposed to by-products of radium and uranium processing could provide valuable insight into occupational risks and suspected differences in risk with uranium miners.
| S-EPMC3586082 | biostudies-other
Project description:Shoulder disorders are common in the working population. This longitudinal study aimed to explore the relationships between personal factors and occupational organisational, psychosocial, and biomechanical factors and the incidence of shoulder disorders. A total of 3710 workers in the Pays de la Loire region (Loire Valley area, France) were randomly included by their occupational physician in the Cosali cohort between 2002 and 2005. All workers completed a self-administered questionnaire about personal factors and work exposure, and using a standardised physical examination, occupational physicians diagnosed shoulder disorders. Between 2007 and 2010, 1611 workers were re-examined by their occupational physician. The 1,320 workers free of shoulder disorders at baseline were studied. A conceptual model was developed in which relationships between organisational, psychosocial, biomechanical, and personal factors at baseline and the incidence of shoulder disorders were assumed. Structural equation modelling was used to test the model. Shoulder disorders were directly associated with biomechanical factors and age but not with psychosocial factors. However, skill discretion and psychological demand influenced shoulder disorders indirectly through biomechanical factors. Exposure to a work pace dependent on an automatic rate and to a work pace dependent on customers' demands were associated with biomechanical and psychosocial factors, but not directly to shoulder disorders. This study identified the complex direct and indirect relationships between occupational factors and shoulder disorders. Our data confirmed our conceptual causation model: organisational and psychosocial factors were associated with biomechanical factors, while biomechanical factors were associated with the incidence of shoulder disorders.
| S-EPMC9424162 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Medical personnel represent the largest group of workers occupationally exposed to ionizing radiation. Although the health risks associated with occupational exposure to low doses of ionizing radiation in the medical field have been investigated in several national cohorts, no study has been conducted in France to date. The ORICAMs (Occupational Radiation Induced Cancer in Medical staff) cohort is a nationwide French longitudinal cohort of medical workers exposed to ionizing radiation aiming to investigate the risk of radiation-associated cancer and non-cancer mortality. The ORICAMs cohort was set up in 2011 and includes all medical personnel monitored for ionizing radiation exposure with at least one dosimetric record in the SISERI database (the national registry for monitoring ionizing radiation exposure in workers) over the period 2002-2012. Causes of death were abstracted from death certificates and coded according to ICD-10. The follow-up ended on 31/12/2013. Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) were calculated by cause of death to compare the mortality in the cohort to that in the French population, by gender, age group and calendar period. Among the 164,015 workers included in the cohort (60% women) a total of 1,358 deaths (892 in male and 466 in female) were reported. The observed number of all-cause deaths was significantly lower than expected based on national rates in both male (SMR = 0.35; 95% CI: 0.33, 0.38; ndeaths = 892) and female (SMR = 0.41; 95% CI: 0.38, 0.45; ndeaths = 466). This analysis leads to the conclusion that mortality in French workers exposed to medical radiation is significantly lower than the national reference rates. However, these results based on a comparative analysis with national rates may be impacted by the healthy worker effect towards low SMRs, and do not enable to establish a potential relationship between occupational exposure and mortality risk, even if we may suspect an impact of high SES of these professionals on the observed decreased mortality. Thus, further dose-response analyses based on individual ionizing radiation exposure and job's type will be conducted to characterize correlation between risk of cancer mortality and occupational exposure.
| S-EPMC10249798 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundA recent systematic review and meta-analysis suggested that occupational exposure to endotoxins protects against lung cancer. To explore this hypothesis further, the follow-up of mortality of a cohort of 3551 workers, who were employed in the British cotton industry during 1966-1971, was extended by 23 years.MethodsSubjects had originally been recruited to a survey of respiratory disease, which collected information about occupation and smoking habits. Cumulative exposures to endotoxins were estimated from data on endotoxin levels by work areas in cotton mills. Risks of lung cancer were estimated using survival modelling.ResultsDuring follow-up, 2018 deaths were recorded before the age of 90 years, including 128 deaths from lung cancer. After adjustment for smoking, hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) for cumulative endotoxin exposures of ≤30,000, >30,000 and ≤200,000, >200,000 and ≤400,000, >400,000 and ≤600,000 and >600,000 endotoxin units (EU) m(-3) years were 1, 0.8 (0.5-1.6), 0.7 (0.4-1.3), 0.6 (0.3-1.0) and 0.5 (0.3-0.9), respectively (P for trend=0.005).ConclusionOur findings strengthen the evidence that occupational exposure to endotoxins protects against lung cancer, and suggest that the effect depends on cumulative dose and persists after exposure ceases.
| S-EPMC3185933 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundFormaldehyde exposure is associated with leukemia in some epidemiological studies. In the National Cancer Institute's formaldehyde cohort, previously followed through December 31, 1979, and updated through December 31, 1994, formaldehyde exposure was associated with an increased risk for leukemia, particularly myeloid leukemia, that increased with peak and average intensity of exposure.MethodsWe extended follow-up through December 31, 2004 (median follow-up = 42 years), for 25 619 workers employed at one of 10 formaldehyde-using or formaldehyde-producing plants before 1966. We used Poisson regression to calculate relative risk (RR) estimates and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to examine associations between quantitative formaldehyde exposure estimates (peak exposure, average intensity and cumulative exposure) and death from lymphohematopoietic malignancies. All statistical tests were two-sided and considered to be significant at P = .05.ResultsWhen follow-up ended in 2004, there were statistically significant increased risks for the highest vs lowest peak formaldehyde exposure category (> or =4 parts per million [ppm] vs >0 to <2.0 ppm) and all lymphohematopoietic malignancies (RR = 1.37; 95% CI = 1.03 to 1.81, P trend = .02) and Hodgkin lymphoma (RR = 3.96; 95% CI = 1.31 to 12.02, P trend = .01). Statistically nonsignificant associations were observed for multiple myeloma (RR = 2.04; 95% CI = 1.01 to 4.12, P trend > .50), all leukemia (RR = 1.42; 95% CI = 0.92 to 2.18, P trend = .12), and myeloid leukemia (RR = 1.78; 95% CI = 0.87 to 3.64, P trend = .13). There was little evidence of association for any lymphohematopoietic malignancy with average intensity or cumulative exposure at the end of follow-up in 2004. However, disease associations varied over time. For peak exposure, the highest formaldehyde-related risks for myeloid leukemia occurred before 1980, but trend tests attained statistical significance in 1990 only. After the mid-1990s, the formaldehyde-related risk of myeloid leukemia declined.ConclusionsEvaluation of risks over time suggests a possible link between formaldehyde exposure and lymphohematopoietic malignancies, particularly myeloid leukemia but also perhaps Hodgkin lymphoma and multiple myeloma. Observed patterns could be due to chance but are also consistent with a causal association within the relatively short induction-incubation periods characteristic of leukemogenesis. Further epidemiological study and exploration of potential molecular mechanisms are warranted.
| S-EPMC2684555 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectiveA recent study and comprehensive literature review has indicated that mining could be protective against prostate cancer. This indication has been explored further here by analysing prostate cancer mortality in the German 'Wismut' uranium miner cohort, which has detailed information on the number of days worked underground.DesignAn historical cohort study of 58?987 male mine workers with retrospective follow-up before 1999 and prospective follow-up since 1999.Setting and participantsUranium mine workers employed during the period 1970-1990 in the regions of Saxony and Thuringia, Germany, contributing 1.42 million person-years of follow-up ending in 2003.Outcome measureSimple standardised mortality ratio (SMR) analyses were applied to assess differences between the national and cohort prostate cancer mortality rates and complemented by refined analyses done entirely within the cohort. The internal comparisons applied Poisson regression excess relative prostate cancer mortality risk model with background stratification by age and calendar year and a whole range of possible explanatory covariables that included days worked underground and years worked at high physical activity with ? radiation treated as a confounder.ResultsThe analysis is based on miner data for 263 prostate cancer deaths. The overall SMR was 0.85 (95% CI 0.75 to 0.95). A linear excess relative risk model with the number of years worked at high physical activity and the number of days worked underground as explanatory covariables provided a statistically significant fit when compared with the background model (p=0.039). Results (with 95% CIs) for the excess relative risk per day worked underground indicated a statistically significant (p=0.0096) small protective effect of -5.59 (-9.81 to -1.36) ×10(-5).ConclusionEvidence is provided from the German Wismut cohort in support of a protective effect from working underground on prostate cancer mortality risk.
| S-EPMC3371580 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectiveThis study updates the mortality experience of over 25,000 workers in a large Canadian petroleum company through December 31, 2006.MethodsStandardized mortality ratios were generated for all-cause and specific cause mortality.ResultsAll cause and all cancer mortality were favorable compared with the general Canadian population. Cancers of previous interest were largely consistent with expectation. There is a continuing excess of mesothelioma, which is of similar magnitude as the previous update, although based on larger numbers. This excess is mostly attributable to men who died in their 50s and 60s and who worked in the refining sector.ConclusionMost causes of death show mortality rates lower than the Canadian general population. Given the excess of mesothelioma observed, this study supports ongoing vigilance in asbestos exposure control programs, as refineries continue to remove asbestos from their facilities.
| S-EPMC6416032 | biostudies-literature