Cancer Incidence Trends in the Oil Shale Industrial Region in Estonia

Abstract

Large oil shale resources are found in Eastern Estonia, where the mineral resource is mined, excavated, and used for electricity generation and shale oil extraction. During industrial activities in the last 100 years, pollutants have been emitted in large amounts, some of which are toxic and carcinogenic. The current study aims to analyse time trends in cancer incidence in the oil shale industry-affected areas and compare them with overall cancer incidence rates and trends in Estonia. We analysed Estonian Cancer Registry data on selected cancer sites that have been previously indicated to have relationships with industrial activities like oil shale extraction. We included lung cancer, kidney cancer, urinary bladder cancer, leukaemia, breast cancer, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. A statistically significantly higher lung cancer age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR) was found during the study period (1992—2015) only in males in the oil shale areas as compared to males in Estonia overall: 133.6 and 95.5 per 100,000, respectively. However, there appeared to be a statistically significant (p < 0.05) decrease in the lung cancer ASIR in males in the oil shale areas (overall decrease 28.9%), whereas at the same time, there was a significant increase (p < 0.05) in non-oil shale areas (13.3%) and in Estonia overall (1.5%). Other cancer sites did not show higher ASIRs in the oil shale industrial areas compared to other areas in Estonia. Possible explanations could be improved environmental quality, socio-economic factors, and other morbidities.

Air Pollution and Chronic Kidney Disease Risk in Oil and Gas- Situated Communities: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Twelve studies showed that exposure to air pollution was associated with increased risk for kidney-related outcomes. Three studies reported that exposed populations had a lower risk of kidney cancer [ 31 , 36 , 37 ]. One study reported no significant difference in the risk for hypertension or diabetes between exposed and unexposed populations [ 33 ], while the remaining nine studies reported mixed findings.…”

Human Biomonitoring in the Oil Shale Industry Area in Estonia—Overview of Earlier Programmes and Future Perspectives

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Quantitative Human Health Risk Assessment of Vinyl Chloride Monomer (VCM) from Petrochemical Industries

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