Cancer mortality patterns among laboratory workers

Cancer risk in laboratory workers: An emphasis on biological research

“…Forty-®ve reports were reviewed in depth, including ®ve studies speci®cally dealing with workers in biological research [Harrington et al, 1978;Belli et al, 1990Belli et al, , 1992Cordier, 1990;Carpenter et al, 1991;Cordier et al, 1995;Brown et al, 1996;Wennborg et al, 1998], two with workers in agronomic research [Dosemeci et al, 1992;Daly et al, 1994], and four with pathologists [Harrington and Shannon, 1975;Harrington and Oakes, 1984;Stroup et al, 1986;Hall et al, 1991]. Four of these studies [Belli et al, 1990[Belli et al, , 1992Daly et al, 1994;Brown et al, 1996;Wennborg et al, 1998Wennborg et al, , 1999 correspond to the national components of an international study coordinated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) [Sasco, 1992].…”

“…Four of these studies [Belli et al, 1990[Belli et al, , 1992Daly et al, 1994;Brown et al, 1996;Wennborg et al, 1998Wennborg et al, , 1999 correspond to the national components of an international study coordinated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) [Sasco, 1992]. In addition, numerous publications and available reports based on routinely collected data were consulted such as incidence registry data in the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden) and England [Pukkala et al, 1983;McLaughlin et al, 1987a;Vagero et al, 1990;Skov and Lynge, 1991;Kauppinen et al, 1992;Kolstad et al, 1992;Linet et al, 1993;Partanen et al, 1994;Pukkala, 1995;Roman and Carpenter, 1995;Andersen et al, 1999], and studies based on death certi®cation in the United Kingdom (UK), Switzerland, People's Republic of China, British Columbia and certain US States [Milham, 1976[Milham, , 1983OPCS, 1978OPCS, , 1986Dubrow and Wegman, 1984;Gallagher et al, 1989;Demers et al, 1991;Minder and Beer-Porizek, 1992;Figgs et al, 1995;Du et al, 1996;Cocco et al, 1998].…”

“…Research laboratory workers are in general healthier than the general population [Harrington and Shannon, 1975;Stroup et al, 1986;Belli et al, 1990;Hall et al, 1991;Baker, 1994;Daly et al, 1994;Brown et al, 1996;Wennborg et al, 1999]. The healthy worker effect is therefore expected to be operating for a number of diseases and reinforced by a social class effect.…”

“…This is particularly true regarding circulatory or respiratory diseases, which are usually associated with tobacco and alcohol consumption as well as with dietary habits. Considering the preponderance of lung cancer over all other cancers in Western Europe, especially among men [Parkin et al, 1992;Coleman et al, 1993], it is not surprising that a lower risk for all cancers (combined) has been regularly found for laboratory workers [Harrington and Shannon, 1975;Stroup et al, 1986;Belli et al, 1990;Kauppinen et al, 1992Kauppinen et al, , 1995Cordier et al, 1995;Brown et al, 1996;Wennborg et al, 1999].…”

“…In the Italian component of the international study of laboratory workers, Belli et al [1990Belli et al [ , 1992 observed an excess mortality from pancreatic cancer (SMR 1.74, 95% CI 0.47±4.45, based on four cases). No excess was found in three other studies conducted in biological or biomedical laboratories including two which were also part of the international investigation [Carpenter et al, 1991;Brown et al, 1996;Wennborg et al, 1999].…”