Occupational, domestic and environmental mesothelioma risks in the British population: a case-control study

C Rake, C Gilham, J Hatch, A Darnton, J Hodgson, J Peto, C Rake, C Gilham, J Hatch, A Darnton, J Hodgson, J Peto

Abstract

We obtained lifetime occupational and residential histories by telephone interview with 622 mesothelioma patients (512 men, 110 women) and 1420 population controls. Odds ratios (ORs) were converted to lifetime risk (LR) estimates for Britons born in the 1940s. Male ORs (95% confidence interval (CI)) relative to low-risk occupations for >10 years of exposure before the age of 30 years were 50.0 (25.8-96.8) for carpenters (LR 1 in 17), 17.1 (10.3-28.3) for plumbers, electricians and painters, 7.0 (3.2-15.2) for other construction workers, 15.3 (9.0-26.2) for other recognised high-risk occupations and 5.2 (3.1-8.5) in other industries where asbestos may be encountered. The LR was similar in apparently unexposed men and women (approximately 1 in 1000), and this was approximately doubled in exposed workers' relatives (OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.3-3.2). No other environmental hazards were identified. In all, 14% of male and 62% of female cases were not attributable to occupational or domestic asbestos exposure. Approximately half of the male cases were construction workers, and only four had worked for more than 5 years in asbestos product manufacture.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Proportion of all men reporting asbestos exposure by year starting new job.

References

    1. Agudo A, Gonzalez CA, Bleda MJ, Ramirez J, Hernandez S, Lopez F, Calleja A, Panades R, Turuguet D, Escolar A, Beltran M, Gonzalez-Moya JE (2000) Occupation and risk of malignant pleural mesothelioma: a case–control study in Spain. Am J Ind Med 37: 159–168
    1. Arblaster L, Hatton P, Howel D, Renvoize E, Schweiger M, Swinburne LM (1995) Occupational and environmental links to mesothelioma deaths occurring in Leeds during 1971–1987. J Public Health Med 17: 297–304
    1. Bard D, Burdett G (2007) Exposure of UK Industrial Plumbers to Asbestos, Part II: awareness and responses of plumbers to working with asbestos during a survey in parallel with personal sampling. Ann Occup Hyg 51: 113–119
    1. Berney LR, Blane DB (1997) Collecting retrospective data: accuracy of recall after 50 years judged against historical records. Soc Sci Med 45: 1519–1525
    1. BOHS (1973) Hygiene standards for airborne amosite asbestos dust. BOHS Committee on Hygiene Standards. Ann Occup Hyg 16: 1–5
    1. Bourdes V, Boffetta P, Pisani P (2000) Environmental exposure to asbestos and risk of pleural mesothelioma: review and meta-analysis. Eur J Epidemiol 16: 411–417
    1. Darnton AJ, McElvenny DM, Hodgson JT (2006) Estimating the number of asbestos-related lung cancer deaths in Great Britain from 1980 to 2000. Ann Occup Hyg 50: 29–38
    1. Goldberg M, Imbernon E, Rolland P, Gilg Soit Ilg A, Saves M, de Quillacq A, Frenay C, Chamming's S, Arveux P, Boutin C, Launoy G, Pairon JC, Astoul P, Galateau-Salle F, Brochard P (2006) The French National Mesothelioma Surveillance Program. Occup Environ Med 63: 390–395
    1. Hammond EC, Garfinkel L, Selikoff IJ, Nicholson WJ (1979) Mortality experience of residents in the neighborhood of an asbestos factory. Ann N Y Acad Sci 330: 417–422
    1. HMSO (1965) The Building Regulations. SI. 1965, No. 1373, HMSO: London
    1. Hodgson JT, Darnton A (2000) The quantitative risks of mesothelioma and lung cancer in relation to asbestos exposure. Ann Occup Hyg 44: 565–601
    1. Hodgson JT, McElvenny DM, Darnton AJ, Price MJ, Peto J (2005) The expected burden of mesothelioma mortality in Great Britain from 2002 to 2050. Br J Cancer 92: 587–593
    1. Holmes E, Garshick E (1991) The reproducibility of the self-report of occupational exposure to asbestos and dust. J Occup Med 33: 134–138
    1. Howel D, Arblaster L, Swinburne L, Schweiger M, Renvoize E, Hatton P (1997) Routes of asbestos exposure and the development of mesothelioma in an English region. Occup Environ Med 54: 403–409
    1. Iwatsubo Y, Pairon JC, Boutin C, Menard O, Massin N, Caillaud D, Orlowski E, Galateau-Salle F, Bignon J, Brochard P (1998) Pleural mesothelioma: dose–response relation at low levels of asbestos exposure in a French population-based case–control study. Am J Epidemiol 148: 133–142
    1. Joubert L, Seidman H, Selikoff IJ (1991) Mortality experience of family contacts of asbestos factory workers. Ann N Y Acad Sci 643: 416–418
    1. Leigh J, Driscoll T (2003) Malignant mesothelioma in Australia, 1945–2002. Int J Occup Environ Health 9: 206–217
    1. Magnani C, Dalmasso P, Biggeri A, Ivaldi C, Mirabelli D, Terracini B (2001) Increased risk of malignant mesothelioma of the pleura after residential or domestic exposure to asbestos: a case–control study in Casale Monferrato, Italy. Environ Health Perspect 109: 915–919
    1. McElvenny DM, Darnton AJ, Price MJ, Hodgson JT (2005) Mesothelioma mortality in Great Britain from 1968 to 2001. Occup Med (Lond) 55: 79–87
    1. MRC Institute for Environment and Health (1997) Fibrous materials in the environment: a review of asbestos and man-made mineral fibres. Leicester, 1997
    1. Muscat JE, Wynder EL (1991) Cigarette smoking, asbestos exposure, and malignant mesothelioma. Cancer Res 51: 2263–2267
    1. Newhouse ML, Thompson H (1965) Mesothelioma of pleura and peritoneum following exposure to asbestos in the London area. Br J Ind Med 22: 261–269
    1. Pan XL, Day HW, Wang W, Beckett LA, Schenker MB (2005) Residential proximity to naturally occurring asbestos and mesothelioma risk in California. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 172: 1019–1025
    1. Rodelsperger K, Jockel KH, Pohlabeln H, Romer W, Woitowitz HJ (2001) Asbestos and man-made vitreous fibers as risk factors for diffuse malignant mesothelioma: results from a German hospital-based case–control study. Am J Ind Med 39: 262–275
    1. StataCorp (2007) Stata Statistical Software, Release 9.2. Stata Corporation, College Station: Texas
    1. Teschke K, Morgan MS, Checkoway H, Franklin G, Spinelli JJ, van Belle G, Weiss NS (1997) Mesothelioma surveillance to locate sources of exposure to asbestos. Can J Public Health 88: 163–168
    1. Vianna NJ, Polan AK (1978) Non-occupational exposure to asbestos and malignant mesothelioma in females. Lancet 1: 1061–1063
    1. Virta RL (2006) Worldwide asbestos supply and consumption trends from 1900 through 2003. US Geological Survey Circular 1298. Accessed June 19th 2008 at:
    1. Yeung P, Rogers A, Johnson A (1999) Distribution of mesothelioma cases in different occupational groups and industries in Australia, 1979–1995. Appl Occup Environ Hyg 14: 759–767

Source: PubMed

Patrocinadores e Colaboradores

Condições médicas

Intervenções de drogas

3
Se inscrever