Cancer incidence among Finnish male cobalt production workers in 1969–2013: a cohort study

BMC Cancer

Research Article

Panu Oksa¹  Jukka Uitti²  Riitta Sauni³  Eero Pukkala⁴  Asko Linna⁵  Raimo Kerttula⁶ 

[1] Clinic of Occupational Medicine, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland;Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Tampere, Finland;Clinic of Occupational Medicine, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland;Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Tampere, Finland;The Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland;Department for Occupational Safety and Health, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, P.O. Box 33, FI-00023 Government, Tampere, Finland;Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland;Finnish Cancer Registry, Institute for Statistical and Epidemiological Cancer Research, Helsinki, Finland;Health Centre of Kokkola town, Kokkola, Finland;Occupational Health, Boliden, Kokkola, Finland;

关键词: Cobalt;    Occupational exposure;    Incidence;    Cancer;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12885-017-3333-2

 received in 2016-05-23, accepted in 2017-05-09,  发布年份 2017

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThere is inadequate evidence for the carcinogenicity of cobalt and cobalt compounds in humans. Consequently, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has evaluated cobalt metal without tungsten carbide as possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B). The aim of the study was to assess the risk of cancer among workers employed in a Finnish cobalt plant since the beginning of production in 1968.MethodsThe study cohort consisted of all males employed by the Finnish cobalt plant for at least a year during 1968–2004. The follow-up for cancer was performed by studying the files of the Finnish Cancer Registry, using personal identity codes as a key. The cohort was divided into subcohorts by exposure levels. Standardised incidence ratios (SIRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were calculated as ratios of the observed numbers of cancer cases and the numbers expected on the basis of incidence rates in the population of the same region.ResultsThe follow-up cohort consisted of 995 men with 26,083 person-years. During the follow-up period, 92 cases of cancer were diagnosed (SIR 1.00, 95% CI 0.81–1.22), six of which were lung cancer cases (SIR 0.50; 95% CI 0.18–1.08). The only cancer type with increased incidence was tongue cancer (three cases, SIR 7.39; 95% CI 1.52–21.6). We observed no dose-response effect across the different exposure levels and the incidence of any cancer type.ConclusionsThe results suggest that occupational exposure to cobalt is not associated with an increased overall cancer risk or lung cancer risk among cobalt workers. Because of the small number of cancer cases the results must be interpreted with caution.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2017