Development of an exposure measurement database on five lung carcinogens (ExpoSYN) for quantitative retrospective occupational exposure assessment

Our plain-English summary of Development of an exposure measurement database on five lung carcinogens (ExpoSYN) for quantitative retrospective occupational exposure assessment, by S. Peters, R. Vermeulen, A. Olsson, et al (The Annals of Occupational Hygiene, 2012).

The study

• Authors: S. Peters, R. Vermeulen, A. Olsson, R. Van Gelder, B. Kendzia, R. Vincent, B. Savary, N. Williams, T. Woldbæk, J. Lavoué, D. Cavallo, A. Cattaneo, D. Mirabelli, N. Plato, D. Dahmann, J. Fevotte, B. Pesch, T. Brüning, K. Straif, H. Kromhout
• Journal: The Annals of Occupational Hygiene
• Published: 2012;56(1):70-9
• Cited by: 46 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Background: SYNERGY is a large pooled analysis of case-control studies on the joint effects of occupational carcinogens and smoking in the development of lung cancer. A quantitative job-exposure matrix (JEM) will be developed to assign exposures to five major lung carcinogens [asbestos, chromium, nickel, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), and respirable crystalline silica (RCS)]. We assembled an exposure database, called ExpoSYN, to enable such a quantitative exposure assessment.

Methods: Existing exposure databases were identified and European and Canadian research institutes were approached to identify pertinent exposure measurement data. Results of individual air measurements were entered anonymized according to a standardized protocol.

Results: The ExpoSYN database currently includes 356 551 measurements from 19 countries. In total, 140 666 personal and 215 885 stationary data points were available. Measurements were distributed over the five agents as follows: RCS (42%), asbestos (20%), chromium (16%), nickel (15%), and PAH (7%). The measurement data cover the time period from 1951 to present. However, only a small portion of measurements (1.4%) were performed prior to 1975. The major contributing countries for personal measurements were Germany (32%), UK (22%), France (14%), and Norway and Canada (both 11%).

Conclusions: ExpoSYN is a unique occupational exposure database with measurements from 18 European countries and Canada covering a time period of >50 years. This database will be used to develop a country-, job-, and time period-specific quantitative JEM. This JEM will enable data-driven quantitative exposure assessment in a multinational pooled analysis of community-based lung cancer case-control studies.

In plain English

This paper described ExpoSYN, a database of workplace air measurements built for SYNERGY, a pooled analysis of lung cancer case-control studies. The authors gathered individual air measurement results for five lung carcinogens from existing exposure databases and from research institutes in Europe and Canada. The five were asbestos, chromium, nickel, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and respirable crystalline silica. The database held 356 551 measurements from 19 countries. Of these, 140 666 were personal and 215 885 were stationary. They covered 1951 to 2009, but only 1.4% were from before 1975. Asbestos accounted for 71 816 measurements (20%), dating from 1968 to 2009. Of the asbestos measurements, 67% were chrysotile, 15% amphiboles and 18% unspecified. The reason for measuring was missing for 58% of asbestos measurements, and the measurement strategy was missing for 38%. The authors concluded that the database will be used to build a country-, job- and time period-specific quantitative job-exposure matrix. They noted two limitations: missing information, and the way workplaces were chosen for measuring, which may make the data less representative. The paper reported no disease results.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Description of an occupational exposure measurement database (no health outcomes studied)
• Who was studied: 356 551 individual workplace air measurements from 19 countries (18 European countries and Canada), covering 1951 to 2009, drawn mainly from national exposure databases
• Exposure: Airborne asbestos (chrysotile, amphibole, and other type/unspecified), chromium, nickel, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and respirable crystalline silica
• Main results:
  • All agents: 140 666 personal and 215 885 stationary measurements
  • Asbestos made up 71 816 measurements (20%) of the database
  • Among asbestos measurements: chrysotile 67%, amphiboles 15%, unspecified 18%
  • Asbestos measurements covered 1968 to 2009 (Table 3)
  • All agents: only 1.4% of measurements were from before 1975
  • Reason for measurement was missing for 58% of asbestos measurements, the highest of the five agents
  • Measurement strategy was missing for 38% of asbestos measurements
  • 90% of all data came from national exposure databases
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the database will be used to develop a country-, job- and time period-specific quantitative job-exposure matrix for the pooled lung cancer case-control analysis.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • Exposure data from before the 1970s are scarce
  • Coverage of each job within each country is limited
  • Measurements are usually taken where exposure is expected, which raises questions of selection bias and representativeness
  • Ancillary information was often missing, which complicates interpretation and comparison of the data
  • Data came from very different sources, which can bias results

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Lung cancer.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Occupational Exposure, Meta-Analysis, Lung Cancer, Crystalline.

Related studies

• SYN-JEM: A Quantitative Job-Exposure Matrix for Five Lung Carcinogens — S. Peters, R. Vermeulen, et al. (2016)
• Lung Cancer Risks Associated with Occupational Exposure to Pairs of Five Lung Carcinogens: Results from a Pooled Analysis of Case-Control Studies (SYNERGY) — A. Olsson, L. Bouaoun, et al. (2024)
• Comparison of expert and job-exposure matrix-based retrospective exposure assessment of occupational carcinogens in The Netherlands Cohort Study — N.S. Offermans, R. Vermeulen, et al. (2012)
• Comparison of exposure assessment methods for occupational carcinogens in a multi-centre lung cancer case-control study — S. Peters, R. Vermeulen, et al. (2011)
• Retrospective Exposure Assessment for Occupational Disease of an Individual Worker Using an Exposure Database and Trend Analysis — D.A. Chung, R.R. Yang, et al. (2015)
• Occupational exposure to mineral fibres: analysis of results stored on colchic database — E. Kauffer, R. Vincent (2007)

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