Cancer mortality in the British rubber industry: 1946-80.

Abstract

Although it is over 30 years since an excess of bladder cancer was first identified in British rubber workers, the fear has persisted that this hazard could still be affecting men working in the industry today. Furthermore, suspicions have also arisen that other and hitherto unsuspected excesses of cancer might be occurring. For these reasons 33 815 men, who first started work in the industry between 1 January 1946 and 31 December 1960, have been followed up to 31 December 1975 to ascertain the number of deaths attributable to malignant disease and to compare these with the expected number calculated from the published mortality rates applicable to the male population of England and Wales and Scotland. The findings confirm the absence of any excess mortality from bladder cancer among men entering the industry after 1 January 1951 (the presumed bladder carcinogens were withdrawn from production processes in July 1949), but they confirm also a statistically significant excess of both lung and stomach cancer mortality. A small excess of oesophageal cancer was also observed in both the tyre and general rubber goods manufacturing sectors. American reports of an excess of leukaemia among rubber workers receive only limited support from the present study, where a small numerical excess of deaths from leukaemia is not statistically significant. A special feature of the study is the adoption of an analytical method that permits taking into account the long latent period of induction of occupational cancer.The existence of an occupational bladder cancer hazard has been reco,nised in the British rubber industry since 1950,; the current position has recently been reviewed by one of us.5 During the early 1 970s epidemiological studies were extended on both sides of the Atlantic to the investigation of the total mortality pattern of rubber workers, but with special emphasis on deaths from cancer. It has for some time been suggested that other and hitherto unsuspected excesses of cancer could also be present in addition to the recognised excess of occupational bladder cancer. Unpublished preliminary observations using proportional mortality data collected in the course of a study of bladder cancer by the British Rubber Manufacturers' Association (BRMA) did provide some evidence of an excess of both lung and stomach cancers.On 1 February 1967 a survey6 was set up by the then senior medical inspector of factories to determine whether there was a continuing risk of bladder cancer in the rubber and cable-making industries.On that date a detailed census was undertaken in

Mortality and cancer incidence in a cohort of rubber workers in Moscow.

“…The influence of vulcanization gases and rubber fumes on lung cancer risk has been described by British researchers (7). As was shown by our hygienic studies, the highest concentrations of benzo[a]pyrene, sometimes exceeding the occupational exposure limit of 0.15 ug .…”

Urothelial cell DNA adducts in rubber workers†

“…Interestingly, the observed differences in DNA adduct levels by production functions were comparable to the distribution of the urinary bladder cancer risk in the past. Urinary bladder cancer risk was then observed in various work areas but mostly in the compounding and mixing departments [Parkes et al, 1982;Sorahan et al, 1986], which suggests that the observed DNA adducts in this study might be related to exposure to one or more constituents of raw rubber chemicals, carbon black, or process oils used within the rubber industry. Only structural characterization of the detected DNA adducts, however, could have given more insight into the chemical origin of these DNA adducts.…”

Cancer risk in the rubber industry: a review of the recent epidemiological evidence.

“…We did not include unpublished data and studies reported only as abstracts. We identified 12 cohort studies from nine countries examining distinct populations of workers in the rubber industry [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33] ; seven nested casecontrol studies in this industry [34][35][36][37][38][39][40] ; 48 distinct community based case-control studies from 16 countries that used questionnaire data and reported risks for employment in the rubber industry ; and finally, 23 studies based on administrative data -such as death certificates, cancer registration, or linkage between census and cancer registry-that presented results by industry or occupation pertinent to assess the risk of cancer among rubber workers. Some of the studies reviewed are updates or more specific investigations of previously reported cohorts.…”