Search

Background: Evidence is limited regarding risk and the shape of the exposure-response curve at low asbestos exposure levels. We estimated the exposure-response for occupational asbestos exposure and assessed the joint effect of asbestos exposure and smoking by sex and lung cancer subtype in general population studies.Methods: We pooled 14 case-control studies conducted in 1985-2010 in Europe and Canada, including 17,705 lung cancer cases and 21,813 controls with detailed information on tobacco habits and lifetime occupations. We developed a quantitative job-exposure-matrix to estimate job-, time period-, and region-specific exposure levels. Fiber-years (ff/ml-years) were calculated for each subject by linking the matrix with individual occupational histories. We fit unconditional logistic regression models to estimate odds ratios (ORs), 95% confidence intervals (CIs), and trends.Results: The fully adjusted OR for ever-exposure to asbestos was 1.24 (95% CI, 1.18, 1.31) in men and 1.12 (95% CI, 0.95, 1.31) in women. In men, increasing lung cancer risk was observed with increasing exposure in all smoking categories and for all three major lung cancer subtypes. In women, lung cancer risk for all subtypes was increased in current smokers (ORs ~two-fold). The joint effect of asbestos exposure and smoking did not deviate from multiplicativity among men, and was more than additive among women.Conclusions: Our results in men showed an excess risk of lung cancer and its subtypes at low cumulative exposure levels, with a steeper exposure-response slope in this exposure range than at higher, previously studied levels. (See video abstract at, http://links.lww.com/EDE/B161.). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Biotechnologie, Agronomie, Societe et Environnement is the property of Les Presses Agronomiques de Gembloux and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The author investigates the case to be made for the financial accelerator in Europe. The financial accelerator implies that weak balance sheets can amplify shocks and have a negative effect on firm investment spending. The different strength of the accelerator across firm size classes and asymmetric effects over the cycle are investigated in this paper, which fills a gap in the evidence on this issue for the euro area. The author provides background on a number of studies and reduces the findings to three testable hypotheses on the financial accelerator: (H1) balance sheet positions are significant determinants of firm investment spending; (H2) in downturns, balance sheet positions are more important in explaining firm investment spending than in other times; and (H3) the financial accelerator influences small and large firm investment spending differently, with small firms being most likely to be influenced most. He then examines investment behavior in the period 1983-1997 for the four largest euro area economies--Germany, France, Italy and Spain--and tests whether size matters and whether balance sheet effects on investment are significantly different during the downturn of the early nineties. The author finds sufficient evidence indicating that a financial accelerator with different strength across size classes and asymmetric effects over the cycle is working in Europe.