Epidemiological Research on Occupational and Environmental Carcinogens

Our plain-English summary of Epidemiological Research on Occupational and Environmental Carcinogens, by C. Ledda (International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2021).

The study

• Author: C. Ledda
• Journal: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• Published: 2021;18(5)
• Type of article: Editorial
• Cited by: 3 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

The cancer risk associated with exposure to environmental and occupational carcinogens such as asbestos, benzene, radiation, or lifestyle carcinogens such as cigarette smoking depends on the entire history of exposure to the carcinogen, including the age of exposure and the time-varying intensity of exposure [...].

In plain English

This article is a short editorial, not a research study. It reports no new data and studied no people. The author discussed epidemiological research on cancer linked to occupational and environmental exposures. Asbestos was named only once, in a list of carcinogens alongside benzene, radiation and cigarette smoking. The editorial gave no findings specific to asbestos. The author wrote that cancer risk depends on the whole history of exposure, including the age at exposure, and described multistage models as one way to analyse exposure that changes over time. Citing other sources, the editorial stated that occupational cancers reached approximately 9.6% of all cancer deaths worldwide. It also stated that about one-third of the definite human carcinogens classified by IARC are work-related exposures. The author noted that occupational cancer studies infrequently include women and minority subjects and can lack industrial hygiene information. The author also wrote that research effort in this field may have declined in recent years. The author concluded that scientific work on the links between cancer, environment and work is essential for monitoring and prevention.

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: editorial (opinion and overview piece; no original data)
• Exposure: Occupational and environmental carcinogens in general. Asbestos is mentioned only in passing, alongside benzene, radiation and cigarette smoking.
• Main results:
  • The author stated that cancer risk depends on the entire history of exposure, including age at exposure. This is the author's view, not a study finding.
  • The editorial reported, citing the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (reference 9), that occupational cancers reached approximately 9.6% of all cancer deaths worldwide. This figure comes from another source, not from this article.
  • The editorial stated, citing other sources, that about one-third of definite human carcinogens classified by IARC are work-related exposures.
  • The author noted that occupational cancer epidemiology studies infrequently include women and minority subjects.
  • The author noted that these studies can lack industrial hygiene information.
  • The author wrote that effort on occupational cancer research may have declined in recent years.
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that scientific activity should focus on knowledge about cancer in relation to the environment and work, in order to carry out monitoring and prevention.

Topics

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

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• An approach to estimating the environmental burden of cancer from known and probable carcinogens: application to Ontario, Canada — S.L. Greco, E. MacIntyre, et al. (2020)
• Risk-based indicators of Canadians' exposures to environmental carcinogens — E. Setton, P. Hystad, et al. (2013)
• Consensus on synergism between cigarette smoke and other environmental carcinogens in the causation of lung cancer — A.E. Reif, T. Heeren (1999)
• Binding of environmental carcinogens to asbestos and mineral fibres — G. Harvey, M. Pagé, et al. (1984)

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