Mortality and cancer incidence in biomedical laboratory personnel in Sweden

Abstract

Background: The work in biomedical laboratories is associated with exposure to a mixture of known and potential chemical carcinogens, mutagens, and teratogens. Previous studies have suggested an excess of brain tumors and hematopoietic system malignancies as well as breast cancers in women. Methods: This retrospective cohort study investigated the standardized mortality ratio (SMR) and the standardized incidence ratio (SIR) for cancer in biomedical research laboratory personnel in Swedish universities 1970–1992. The cohort comprised 5,035 laboratory and, as an internal reference group, 2,923 nonlaboratory employees. Results: The overall death rate was lower in both groups than in the general population. The SIR for brain tumors among male laboratory workers was 1.69 (0.62–3.68) and among male laboratory scientists, after more than 10 years of work (4 cases), it was 3.11 (0.85–7.56). There was an elevated SIR for malignant melanoma among female scientists in laboratories (3.51, 0.96–8.98) and for male scientists in nonlaboratory departments (2.86, 1.05–6.22). The SIR for breast cancer among female laboratory scientists was 1.62 (0.78–2.98). Conclusions: The present findings lend some support to an excess of brain tumors among male scientists and of breast cancer in female scientists in biomedical research laboratories. Am. J. Ind. Med. 35:382–389, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Adverse reproduction outcomes among employees working in biomedical research laboratories

“…Furthermore, we compared groups expected to have similar social norms in hopes of reducing confounding by these factors. If anything, laboratory women may have a slightly healthier life-style (5,14).…”

“…More information on recruitment and exposure assessment in this cohort is given in a study on cancer mortality in biomedical research laboratories (5). The women in our study had been employed for more than 1 year, and at least 50% worked full-time or more in departments with biomedical research as their main activity (N=2676).…”

Chemotherapy: some potential risks under antineoplastic drugs handling

“…Характерным результатом дли-тельного прослеживания больших контингентов лабораторных работников в Финляндии, Швеции, США и Израиле является сниженный общий риск воз-никновения ЗН по сравнению с населением. Это может быть объяснено «эффектом здорового рабочего», при котором происходит самоотбор лиц в данную про-фессиональную группу с изначально более хорошими показателями здоровья и меньшей распространен-ностью вредных привычек [59][60][61][62][63][64]. Повышенный риск ряда локализаций ЗН, отмеченный в приведенных работах, не достигал статистической значимости.…”

Assessment of Air Change Rates in Chemical Laboratories

“…Laboratory chemists/workers are typically at risk for various cancers, such as colon, melanoma, prostate, brain and breast cancers, and cerebrovascular diseases [5][6][7]. Additionally, exposure to organic compounds increased miscarriage rates in female laboratory workers [8].…”