Community and Occupational Studies of Lung Cancer and Polycyclic Organic Matter

Abstract

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) andBrogan & Partners are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Environmental Health Perspectives.Finland is used as a model in attempts to study the possible association of the incidence of lung cancer and exposure of population to fossil fuel combustion products. Unfortunately because of great geographical variation of unknown origin in the incidence of lung cancer in Finland, detailed studies of the possible role of an individual exposure in the lung cancer risk are not possible. This background variation in the incidence is much greater than variation carried by any known etiological factor and does not clearly correlate with the degree of urbanization, industrialization, regional use of fossil fuels, number of motor vehicles or smoking habits.To get more precise information on the possible association of lung cancer incidence with exposure to fossil fuel combustion products, occupational studies serve as powerful tools. The definition of population is more reliable and the measurement of exposures can be done more precisely; moreover the management of confounding and modifying factors is more effective than in community studies. So far the studies carried out among the Finnish working population exposed to PAH compounds reveal an association between the lung cancer risk and exposure to PAHs.

Selective detection of monohydroxy metabolites of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in urine using liquid chromatography/triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry

“…Many PAHs have been identified as potent mammary carcinogens in experimental bioassays 3. Exposures to PAHs have been linked to increased cancer risks in epidemiological studies 4–6. PAHs have also been found to cause endocrine disruption.…”

Consensus Report: Mutagenicity and Carcinogenicity of Car Exhausts and Coal Combustion Emissions

“…However, epidemiological data have not been sufficient to allow a precise determination of the quantitative association between specific exposure and cancer risk (3,4). However, epidemiological data have not been sufficient to allow a precise determination of the quantitative association between specific exposure and cancer risk (3,4).…”

Consensus report: mutagenicity and carcinogenicity of car exhausts and coal combustion emissions

“…However, epidemiological data have not been sufficient to allow a precise determination of the quantitative association between specific exposure and cancer risk (3,4). …”