1. Mortality from obstructive lung diseases and exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons among asphalt workers
- Author
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Burstyn, I., Boffetta, P., Heederik, D.J.J., Partanen, T.J., Kromhout, H., Svane, O., Langard, S., Frentzel-Beyme, R., Kauppinen, T., Stucker, I., Shaham, J., Ahrens, W., Cenee, S., Ferro, G., Heikkila, P., Hooiveld, M., Johansen, C., Randem, B., Schill, W., Universiteit Utrecht, Faculteit Diergeneeskunde, Secretariat, U754, Division of Occupational and Environmental Health, Institute for Risk Assessment (IRAS), Utrecht University [Utrecht], Unit of Environment Cancer Epidemiology, IARC, Unit of Excellence for Psychosocial Factors, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Danish Working Environment Service, Centre for Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Riskhospitalet University Hospital, Bremen Institute for Prevention Research and Social Medicine, Recherches épidémiologiques et statistiques sur l'environnement et la santé., Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), Occupational Cancer Department, National Institute of Occupational and Environmental Health, Institute of Cancer Epidemiology, Danish Cancer Society, Universiteit Utrecht, and Faculteit Diergeneeskunde
- Subjects
Male ,Chronic bronchitis ,Pathology ,Epidemiology ,Abbreviations: ICD-9 ,MESH: Risk Assessment ,MESH: Occupational Exposure ,Cohort Studies ,Ninth Revision ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Road Construction Workers’ Exposure Matrix ,Determinants in Health and Disease [EBP 1] ,Israel ,Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons ,MESH: Cohort Studies ,Coal Tar ,Inhalation Exposure ,MESH: Time ,Respiratory disease ,MESH: Israel ,MESH: Follow-Up Studies ,Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon ,Causality ,Europe ,Occupational Diseases ,Benzo(a)pyrene ,Bronchitis ,MESH: Inhalation Exposure ,ICD-9 ,medicine.drug ,MESH: Occupational Diseases ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Coronacrisis-Taverne ,MESH: Coal Tar ,MESH: Causality ,Risk Assessment ,ICD-9 [Abbreviations] ,Time ,Occupational medicine ,MESH: Polycyclic Hydrocarbons, Aromatic ,International Classification of Diseases ,Interventional oncology [UMCN 1.5] ,Occupational Exposure ,Environmental health ,polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon ,MESH: Hydrocarbons ,MESH: Lung Diseases, Obstructive ,medicine ,Humans ,Lung Diseases, Obstructive ,Coal tar ,Asthma ,MESH: Humans ,business.industry ,PAH ,medicine.disease ,Hydrocarbons ,MESH: Male ,respiratory tract diseases ,ROCEM ,chemistry ,[SDV.SPEE] Life Sciences [q-bio]/Santé publique et épidémiologie ,[SDV.SPEE]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Santé publique et épidémiologie ,MESH: Europe ,business ,Aromatic ,Follow-Up Studies - Abstract
Item does not contain fulltext Work in the asphalt industry has been associated with nonmalignant respiratory morbidity and mortality, but the evidence is not consistent. A historical cohort of asphalt workers included 58,862 men (911,209 person-years) first employed between 1913 and 1999 in companies applying and mixing asphalt in Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, and Norway. The relations between mortality from nonmalignant respiratory diseases (including the obstructive lung diseases: chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and asthma) and specific chemical agents and mixtures were evaluated using a study-specific exposure matrix. Mortality from obstructive lung diseases was associated with the estimated cumulative and average exposures to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and coal tar (p values of the test for linear trend = 0.06 and 0.01, respectively). The positive association between bitumen fume exposure and mortality from obstructive lung diseases was weak and not statistically significant; confounding by simultaneous exposure to coal tar could not be excluded. The authors lacked data on smoking and full occupational histories. In conclusion, exposures to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, originating from coal tar and possibly from bitumen fume, may have contributed to mortality from obstructive lung diseases among asphalt workers, but confounding and bias cannot be ruled out as an explanation for the observed associations.
- Published
- 2003