Sulfur dioxide exposure and other factors affecting age at natural menopause in the Jinchuan cohort

Abstract

This paper is significant because it is the first report of an association between sulfur dioxide and menopause, and one of few papers to look at the determinants of ANM in an occupational cohort. Blue-collar workers had earlier mean ANM than white-collar workers. Blue-collar workers are more exposed to sulfur dioxide and other occupational exposures than white-collar workers, and blue-collar workers who are more exposed to sulfur dioxide have earlier menopause. Sulfur dioxide may be part of the reason that blue-collar workers experience earlier menopause than white-collar workers.

Blue-collar work and women's health: A systematic review of the evidence from 1990 to 2015

“…Increased risk for asthma, chronic rhinosinusitis and lung cancers was observed blue-collar women as compared with women in other industries ( Väänänen et al, 2008 , Wamala et al, 2001 , Vahtera et al, 1999 , Vingård et al, 1991 ). Among European blue-collar women, increased dust concentration was associated with decreased lung capacity (as measured by FVC and FEV1) ( Love, Muirhead, Collins, & Soutar, 1991 ), although no significant effects of manganese exposure on pulmonary function was observed among female metalworkers in China ( Wang et al, 2015 ).…”

Influence of Work on Andropause and Menopause: A Systematic Review

“…The authors suggested that secondhand smoking (which was frequent for service jobs) could play a role in earlier age at menopause onset [ 23 ]. Wang et al also found an earlier age at menopause in blue-collar (49.0 years) than in white-collar workers (49.5 years), which they attributed to sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) exposure since occupational exposure to SO 2 for more than 20 years was the only factor that remained significant on multivariate analysis [ 24 ].…”

“…The variables investigated in the studies exploring the influence of work on age at menopause onset were smoking [ 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 ], type of work [ 19 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 ], shiftwork [ 25 ], and use of pesticides [ 20 , 26 ].…”

Cohort Profile: The China Metal-Exposed Workers Cohort Study (Jinchang Cohort)

“…17,18 Sulphur dioxide exposure was found to be associated with earlier mean age at natural menopause in non-office workers in the cohort. 16 Reproductive factors such as age at menarche, age at menopause and reproductive life span, were associated with increased risk of T2D in women of the cohort. 22 By case-control study, we also observed that MetS was associated with an elevated risk of breast cancer among postmenopausal women in the cohort.…”

“…Some of results based on the baseline data of the cohort have also been published. [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] The prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS), overweight and hyperlipidaemia was high in the occupational workers of the cohort, in particular among male workers. 20 Occupations associated with higher levels of metal exposures were related to increased risk of T2D among those workers.…”