Among women, lung cancer mortality rates have surpassed those for breast cancer in several countries. This reflects the breast cancer mortality declines due to access to screening and effective treatment alongside the entrance of certain countries in stages of the tobacco epidemic in which smoking becomes more prevalent in women. In this study, we project lung and breast cancer mortality until 2030 in 52 countries. Cancer mortality data were obtained from the WHO Mortality Database. Age-standardized mortality rates (ASMR), per 100,000, were calculated (direct method) for 2008 to 2014 and projected for the years 2015, 2020, 2025, and 2030 using a Bayesian log-linear Poisson model. In 52 countries studied around the world, between 2015 and 2030, the median ASMR are projected to increase for lung cancer, from 11.2 to 16.0, whereas declines are expected for breast cancer, from 16.1 to 14.7. In the same period, the ASMR will decrease in 36 countries for breast cancer and in 15 countries for lung cancer. In half of the countries analyzed, and in nearly three quarters of those classified as high-income countries, the ASMR for lung cancer has already surpassed or will surpass the breast cancer ASMR before 2030. The mortality for lung and breast cancer is higher in high-income countries than in middle-income countries; lung cancer mortality is lower in the latter because the tobacco epidemic is not yet widespread. Due to these observed characteristics of lung cancer, primary prevention should still be a key factor to decrease lung cancer mortality. The mortality for lung and breast cancer is projected to be higher in high-income countries than in middle-income countries, where lung cancer mortality is expected to surpass breast cancer mortality before 2030. .

Background:Exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) may increase risk for metabolic diseases; however, epidemiologic evidence is lacking at the present time. Pregnancy is a period of enhanced tissue plasticity for the fetus and the mother and may be a critical window of PFAS exposure susceptibility.Objective:We evaluated the associations between PFAS exposures and metabolic outcomes in pregnant women.Methods:We analyzed 1,240 pregnant women from the Spanish INMA [Environment and Childhood Project (INfancia y Medio Ambiente)] birth cohort study (recruitment period: 2003–2008) with measured first pregnancy trimester plasma concentrations of four PFASs (in nanograms/milliliter). We used logistic regression models to estimate associations of PFASs (log10-transformed and categorized into quartiles) with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), and we used linear regression models to estimate associations with first-trimester serum levels of triglycerides, total cholesterol, and C-reactive protein (CRP).Results:Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS) were positively associated with IGT (137 cases) [OR per log10-unit increase=1.99 (95% CI: 1.06, 3.78) and OR=1.65 ( 95% CI: 0.99, 2.76), respectively]. PFOS and PFHxS associations with GDM (53 cases) were in a similar direction, but less precise. PFOS and perfluorononanoate (PFNA) were negatively associated with triglyceride levels [percent median change per log10-unit increase=−5.86% (95% CI: −9.91%, −1.63%) and percent median change per log10-unit increase=−4.75% (95% CI: −8.16%, −0.61%, respectively], whereas perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) was positively associated with total cholesterol [percent median change per log10-unit increase=1.26% (95% CI: 0.01%, 2.54%)]. PFASs were not associated with CRP in the subset of the population with available data (n=640).Conclusions:Although further confirmation is required, the findings from this study suggest that PFAS exposures during pregnancy may influence lipid metabolism and glucose tolerance and thus may impact the health of the mother and her child. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP1062

The world of work is facing an ongoing pandemic and an economic downturn with severe effects worldwide. Workers trapped in precarious employment (PE), both formal and informal, are among those most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Here we call attention to at least 5 critical ways that the consequences of the crisis among workers in PE will be felt globally: ( a) PE will increase, ( b) workers in PE will become more precarious, ( c) workers in PE will face unemployment without being officially laid off, ( d) workers in PE will be exposed to serious stressors and dramatic life changes that may lead to a rise in diseases of despair, and ( e) PE might be a factor in deterring the control of or in generating new COVID-19 outbreaks. We conclude that what we really need is a new social contract, where the work of all workers is recognized and protected with adequate job contracts, employment security, and social protection in a new economy, both during and after the COVID-19 crisis.

No abstract

Low-quality employment trajectories and risk of common mental disorders, substance use disorders and suicide attempt: a longitudinal study of the Swedish workforce

This paper presents items of precarious employment (PE) operationalised as a summative scale and an employment typology using register-based labour market data. Three PE types, as well as a wide range of summative scale scores indicating precariousness, were found. Sociodemographic characteristics often found overrepresented in PE were confirmed, and new perspectives on some of these are given.

Objectives: To investigate the association between precarious employment and health in a sample of non-standard employees in Stockholm County, Sweden, by addressing three specific research questions: is the degree of precarious employment (low, moderate, high) associated with self-rated. . . (a) general health, (b) mental health, (c) musculoskeletal pain? Methods: Web-based respondent-driven sampling was used to recruit a sample of 415 employees in Stockholm, Sweden, during 2016–2017. Questionnaire data were collected on employment conditions (the Swedish version of the employment precariousness scale (EPRES-Se)), general health, mental health and musculoskeletal pain. EPRES-Se scores were categorised as low, moderate or high. Generalised linear models with Poisson distribution, log link functions and robust variances were applied for calculating crude and adjusted prevalence ratios (PR; aPR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for all outcomes. Results: The prevalence ratios of poor self-rated general and mental health increased with increased degree of precariousness, as indicated by estimates of moderate precarious employment (a2PRModerate 1.44 (CI 0.98–2.11); a2PRModerate 1.13 (CI 0.82–1.62)), and high precarious employment (a2PRHigh 1.78 (CI 1.21–2.62); a2PRHigh 1.69 (CI 1.25–2.28)), albeit only significantly so for high precarious employment. Conclusions: This is the first study in Sweden reporting on the association between precarious employment, as measured with a multidimensional scale, and multiple health outcomes. The results add to the evidence of an association between precarious employment and self-rated poor general and mental health. Larger, representative studies with longitudinal designs using the EPRES-Se are called for in order to strengthen these results and the already existing evidence of the harm of precarious employment.

No abstract