Cancer mortality in workers exposed to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin

Article Abstract:

Exposure to dioxin, or TCDD, has been shown in some research to increase risk of cancer in both animals and man. TCDD has caused tumors of the skin, tongue, liver, and nose in rats, mice, and hamsters. TCDD seems to promote, but may also cause, cancer growth. A retrospective study was conducted of death rates among U.S. chemical workers assigned to the production of substances contaminated with TCDD. Occupational exposure was studied for 5,172 workers at 12 plants in the United States by reviewing documented job descriptions and by measuring TCDD in blood from a sample of 253 workers. Causes of death were as listed on death certificates. The number of deaths due to many of the cancers that have previously been linked to dioxin was not particularly higher than in the general population. In a subgroup of 1,520 workers whose exposure had lasted longer than one year and had been at least 20 years prior, mortality from all cancers and especially soft-tissue cancers was high. The results do not confirm the high relative risks reported in previous studies. Conclusions that can be drawn regarding increased risk of soft-tissue carcinoma are limited by the small numbers of subjects involved in the study and problems with some death certificates. TCDD may affect the number of deaths from all forms of cancer (as a single statistic). Smoking and occupational exposure to other chemicals may also have contributed to the observed increase in mortality. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Physiological aspects, Dioxin, Dioxins

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Lung cancer mortality among nonsmoking uranium miners exposed to radon daughters

Article Abstract:

A study was conducted to estimate the risk of lung cancer mortality among nonsmokers exposed to varying levels of radon daughters. A group of 516 white nonsmoking male uranium miners was selected from the US Public Health Service (USPHS) cohort for the study. Each had been examined in a USPHS survey between 1950 and 1960, had been followed up through 1984, and had worked a minimum of one month underground by 1964. A twelve-fold lung cancer mortality risk for nonsmoking miners exposed to radon daughters at a median level of 296 WLM (working level months) when compared with nonsmoking non-miners was demonstrated. No lung cancer deaths were observed among nonsmoking miners who had accumulated less than 465 WLM of exposure to radon daughters. The study confirms the need to strictly regulate the level of exposure to radon daughters in both the home and the workplace.

Case studies, Smoking, Lung cancer, Radon, Uranium mining

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End-stage renal disease among silica-exposed gold miners: a new method for assessing incidence among epidemiologic cohorts

Article Abstract:

Miners who are exposed to silica may have an increased risk of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) caused by nephritis. Nephritis is an inflammation of the kidney. Researchers used a database of Medicare recipients of dialysis or kidney transplant to identify 11 gold miners who were being treated for ESRD. The risk of ESRD attributable to nephritis in these miners was over 4 times greater than in the general population. Analysis of death certificates for over 2,400 other gold miners revealed an additional two people who probably had ESRD but were never identified in the Medicare database.

Causes of, Complications and side effects, Silica, Chronic kidney failure, Gold miners, Silicon dioxide

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