Cancer incidence in sites potentially related to occupational exposures: 58 years of follow-up of firefighters in the Norwegian Fire Departments Cohort

Marjerrison, Niki; Jakobsen, Jarle; Grimsrud, Tom Kristian; Hansen, Johnni; Martinsen, Jan Ivar; Nordby, Karl-Christian; Veierød, Marit Bragelien; Kjærheim, Kristina

doi:10.5271/sjweh.4009

Cited by 8 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 33 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Many workers in the ODSS may be exposed to asbestos (eg, construction workers, maintenance staff), whereas the police may be less likely to be exposed to asbestos, which explains the strengthening relationship when compared with the police. Our finding was similar to other studies (SIR=2.29–2.59), although these findings are based on firefighters compared with the general population 5 21 24. Firefighters are exposed to asbestos fibres from burning older buildings24 and may be more exposed during the overhaul stage when they are involved in tasks related to ripping up walls, floors and ceilings.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…Our finding was similar to other studies (SIR=2.29–2.59), although these findings are based on firefighters compared with the general population. 5 21 24 Firefighters are exposed to asbestos fibres from burning older buildings 24 and may be more exposed during the overhaul stage when they are involved in tasks related to ripping up walls, floors and ceilings.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A meta-analysis by Jalilian et al 4 identified an elevated risk of colon, rectal, prostate, testicular, bladder and thyroid cancers, as well as mesothelioma and melanoma, among firefighters 4. A recent Norwegian fire departments cohort observed associations for urinary and laryngeal cancer and mesothelioma 5…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… 4 A recent Norwegian fire departments cohort observed associations for urinary and laryngeal cancer and mesothelioma. 5 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…4 A recent Norwegian fire departments cohort observed associations for urinary and laryngeal cancer and mesothelioma. 5 A systematic review of 14 studies by Wirth et al 6 showed risk of different cancer sites with mixed…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Cancer risk among firefighters and police in the Ontario workforce

et al. 2022

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ObjectiveFirefighters and police often work in high-stress, complex environments with known and suspected carcinogenic exposures. We aimed to characterise cancer incidence among firefighters and police.MethodsThe Occupational Disease Surveillance System (ODSS) was used to identify workers employed as firefighters or police in Ontario. A cohort of workers were identified using lost-time workers’ compensation claims data and followed for cancer in the Ontario Cancer Registry (1983–2020). Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate HRs and 95% CIs for primary site-specific cancer diagnoses adjusted for age at start of follow-up, birth year and sex.ResultsA total of 13 642 firefighters and 22 595 police were identified in the cohort. Compared with all other workers in the ODSS, firefighters and police had increased risk of prostate cancer (firefighters: HR=1.43, 95% CI 1.31 to 1.57; police: HR=1.47, 95% CI 1.35 to 1.59), colon cancer (firefighters: HR=1.39, 95% CI 1.19 to 1.63; police: HR=1.39, 95% CI 1.21 to 1.60) and skin melanoma (firefighters: HR=2.38, 95% CI 1.99 to 2.84; police: HR=2.27, 95% CI 1.96 to 2.62). Firefighters also had increased risk of cancer of the pancreas, testis and kidney, as well as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and leukaemia. Police had increased risk of thyroid, bladder and female breast cancer. When compared directly with the police, firefighters had an elevated risk of mesothelioma and testicular cancer.ConclusionsFirefighters and police demonstrated some similar as well as some unique cancer risks. Findings from this larger worker population may have important implications for workplace and policy-level changes to improve preventative measures and reduce potential exposures to known carcinogenic hazards.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… 4 A recent Norwegian fire departments cohort observed associations for urinary and laryngeal cancer and mesothelioma. 5 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Cancer risk among firefighters and police in the Ontario workforce

et al. 2022

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Firefighting and Cancer: A Meta-analysis of Cohort Studies in the Context of Cancer Hazard Identification

DeBono¹,

Daniels²,

Freeman³

et al. 2023

Safety and Health at Work

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Comparison of cancer incidence and mortality in the Norwegian Fire Departments Cohort, 1960–2018

et al. 2022

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ObjectivesElevated risk of cancer at several sites has been reported among firefighters, although with mixed findings. The purpose of this study was to calculate standardised incidence ratios (SIRs) and standardised mortality ratios (SMRs) for cancer and compare them to assess whether use of the different measures could be a source of inconsistencies in findings.MethodsThe Norwegian Fire Departments Cohort, comprising 4295 male employees who worked at 15 fire departments across Norway, was linked to health outcome registries for the period 1960–2018. SIRs and SMRs were derived using national reference rates.ResultsOverall, we observed elevated incidence of colon cancer (SIR, 95% CI 1.27, 1.01 to 1.58), mesothelioma (2.59, 1.12 to 5.11), prostate cancer (1.18, 1.03 to 1.34) and all sites combined (1.15, 1.08 to 1.23). Smaller, non-significant elevations were found for mortality of colon cancer (SMR, 95% CI 1.20, 0.84 to 1.67) and mesothelioma (1.66, 0.34 to 4.86), while SMR for prostate cancer was at unity. Potential errors were observed in some of the mortality data, notably for mesothelioma cases. Among those who died of cancer, 3.7% (n=14) did not have a prior diagnosis of malignancy at the same site group.ConclusionsAssessment of incidence or mortality did not greatly influence the interpretation of results. The most prominent differences in SIR and SMR appeared to be due to inconsistencies between sites of cancer diagnosis and cause of death. The difference in SIR and SMR for prostate cancer suggested a detection bias from differential screening practices.

show abstract

Cancer incidence in sites potentially related to occupational exposures: 58 years of follow-up of firefighters in the Norwegian Fire Departments Cohort

Cited by 8 publications

References 33 publications

Cancer risk among firefighters and police in the Ontario workforce

Cancer risk among firefighters and police in the Ontario workforce

Firefighting and Cancer: A Meta-analysis of Cohort Studies in the Context of Cancer Hazard Identification

Comparison of cancer incidence and mortality in the Norwegian Fire Departments Cohort, 1960–2018

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About