Mortality study update of acrylamide workers

Abstract

Objective: The authors examined the long-term health effects of occupational exposure to acrylamide among production and polymerisation workers. Methods: An earlier study of 371 acrylamide workers was expanded to include employees hired since 1979. In this updated study, 696 acrylamide workers were followed from 1955 through 2001 to ascertain vital status and cause of death. Exposure to acrylamide was retrospectively assessed based on personal samples from the 1970s onwards and area samples over the whole study period. Results: Fewer of the acrylamide workers died (n = 141) compared to an expected number of 172.1 (SMR 81.9, 95% CI 69.0 to 96.6). No cause-specific SMR for any of the investigated types of cancer was exposure related. The authors did, however, find more pancreatic cancer deaths than expected (SMR 222.2, 95% CI 72.1 to 518.5). With respect to non-malignant disease, more diabetes deaths were observed than expected (SMR 288.7, 95% CI 138.4 to 531.0). To assess the influence of regional factors, the analysis was repeated with an internal reference population. The elevated SMR for diabetes persisted. Conclusion: This study provides little evidence for a cancer risk from occupational exposure to acrylamide at production facilities. However, the increased rates of pancreatic cancer in this study and another larger study of acrylamide production workers indicate that caution is needed to rule out a cancer risk. The authors believe that the excess of diabetes mortality in this study is most likely not related to acrylamide exposure, because a larger study of acrylamide workers reported a deficit in this cause of death. The authors conclude that the increased SMR for diabetes mortality is probably not related to regional influences.

Dietary Acrylamide Intake and Brain Cancer Risk

“…Although the route of exposure differs, these results are in line with studies on occupational acrylamide exposure, which did not show excess brain cancer incidence in association with acrylamide exposure (11,12). The number of cases in the analyses was modest, especially in the subgroups based on histology.…”

Scientific Opinion on acrylamide in food

“…Based on the IARC classification of AA and the available evidence the authors concluded that the strength of evidence for AA and pancreatic cancer was suggestive. The CONTAM Panel noted, however, that the authors were not able to include the evidence of the extended follow-up of the two cohorts that were published in 2007 (Marsh et al, 2007;Swaen et al, 2007).…”

“…As compared to dietary studies, occupational studies are likely to measure AA exposure more accurately. Moreover, workers have been exposed to higher doses of AA (particularly in the past, Swaen et al, 2007), although individual occupational exposure may be variable and limited in time. Accordingly, various studies which have measured AA-and GA-Hb adducts in different populations (as biomarkers for AA exposure) showed that occupational exposures to AA have been considerably higher than in the general population, either in non-smoking or smoking groups.…”

A Prospective Study of Dietary Acrylamide Intake and the Risk of Endometrial, Ovarian, and Breast Cancer

“…Animal studies have shown positive dose-response relationships between acrylamide given in drinking water and cancer in multiple organs in both mice and rats (9)(10)(11)(12), among which were several hormone-sensitive organs, such as the mammary glands and the uterus. However, studies on humans with occupational acrylamide exposure have been negative thus far, apart from an increased risk of pancreatic cancer, but this was based on a small number of cases (13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18). Dietary acrylamide intake and its relation with various types of cancer have been studied in a few case-control studies (19)(20)(21) and only two prospective cohort studies on breast and colorectal cancer (22,23).…”