Mortality and Cancer Experience of Quebec Aluminum Reduction Plant Workers, Part 4: Cancer Incidence

Abstract

The cancer incidence results are consistent with those from mortality studies, but identify other cancers that deserve scrutiny in future follow-ups.

Relationship between cardiopulmonary mortality and cancer risk and quantitative exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, fluorides, and dust in two prebake aluminum smelters

“…This cohort was previously found to have an elevated risk of prostate cancer mortality compared to the Australian population for production workers (10 deaths, SMR 2.4, 95% CI: 1.3-4.4), but no excess was observed with prostate cancer incidence (29 cases, SIR 1.1, 95% CI: 0.7-1.5) [20]. The lack of a relationship between prostate cancer and smelter exposures is consistent with previous studies [10][11][12][13][14].…”

“…In addition to lung and bladder cancer, exposures in Söderberg smelters have also been associated with nonHodgkin lymphoma and pancreatic, stomach and kidney cancers [9][10][11][12][13][14], and with other chronic diseases, including fluoride exposure with respiratory disease mortality [12,15] and CTPV exposure with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease mortality [13,14] and heart disease mortality [16,17]. However, these findings have not been consistent across studies.…”

“…The median of the exposed workers and the maximum cumulative BaP exposure in this study were 0.18 and 90 lg/m 3 -year, respectively, with the high exposure categories defined as [7.9 for bladder cancer, [10.9 for respiratory cancer, and [6.8 for stomach cancer. Thus, the majority of the 'high' exposure workers in the prebake smelters fell within the lowest exposure group ([0-20 lg/m 3 -year) of the Söder-berg smelter studies, whose highest exposure groups were [80 [10] and [320 lg/m 3 -year [13,14]. In prebake smelters, the highest CTPV exposure occurs in the anode plant and during new pot start up operations.…”

“…A US study was the first to find a slight excess risk of stomach cancer in aluminum smelters [35]. The latest update of the Quebec aluminum smelter studies also found an increased risk of stomach cancer [13,14], but the excess risk was only associated with CTPV exposure in those hired after 1950. Another Canadian smelter study observed an exposure-response association with both BSF and BaP [10]; all workers in that cohort were hired in the 1950s or later.…”

Occupational exposures to asbestos, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and solvents, and cancers of the oral cavity and pharynx: a quantitative literature review

“…Cohort studies of aluminium industry workers (Gibbs and Sevigny 2007;Moulin et al 2000a;Sim et al 2009;Spinelli et al 2006) presenting results for oral and pharyngeal cancers all showed decreased risks except for a Canadian cohort, in which a slightly increased SIR of around 1.15 was found when considering the whole cohort, while a significantly increased SIR of around 2.7 was found for workers highly exposed to benzo-a-pyrene (Gibbs and Sevigny 2007).…”