Occupational exposure to carcinogens in Finland

Our plain-English summary of Occupational exposure to carcinogens in Finland, by P. Heikkilä, T. Kauppinen (American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 1992).

The study

• Authors: P. Heikkilä, T. Kauppinen
• Journal: American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• Published: 1992;21(4):467-80
• Cited by: 13 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Finland has kept a registry on the manufacture and use of carcinogenic agents involving occupational exposure since 1979. Employers must report annually to the labor safety authorities the employees who have been exposed to carcinogens and provide information on carcinogenic agents produced, used, or formed. Out of 131 substances or groups of agents listed as carcinogenic, occupational exposure to 78 of them was reported in 1987. About half of the agents reported were used or produced in industry and half were handled on a laboratory scale. About 15,000 employees from 1,700 work departments were reported to the registry; 17% of them were women. The number of workers reported in 1987 accounted for 0.6% of the total work force. It has been estimated that at least 60,000 workers are exposed annually to carcinogens in Finland. The three most prevalent exposures--hexavalent chromium compounds, nickel and its inorganic compounds, and asbestos--accounted for over 60% of all exposed workers; only five carcinogenic chemicals were produced in Finland in 1987.

In plain English

This article described Finland's national registry of workers exposed to cancer-causing agents at work (the ASA Registry), using employer reports for 1987. It did not study disease or cancer rates. Of 131 substances or groups of agents listed as carcinogenic in Finland, exposure to 78 was reported. About 15,000 employees from 1,700 work departments were reported, 17% of them women, which was 0.6% of the work force. Chromium (VI) compounds (6,234 workers), nickel and its inorganic compounds (about 4,700) and asbestos together accounted for over 60% of reported workers. Asbestos exposure was reported for 3,556 workers, including 2,500 car mechanics and 350 construction workers. Imports in 1987 were 1,000 tons of raw asbestos and 2,250 tons of asbestos products. Manufacture of asbestos-containing products ended in Finland in 1988. The authors estimated that about 60,000 workers, or 2.4% of the work force, are exposed each year. They stated that the registry probably left out many workers with low exposure and that asbestos exposures were presumably underrepresented. The registry did not record exposure level or duration.

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: Descriptive report of national exposure registry data (employer reports to Finland's ASA Registry) for one year
• Who was studied: About 15,000 employees from 1,700 work departments in Finland reported to the registry in 1987; 17% were women
• Exposure: Occupational exposure to substances on Finland's list of carcinogens, including asbestos (fiber types not specified). The authors said asbestos exposure took place during demolition and repair of old buildings and ships, and in other maintenance and repair work.
• Main results:
  • Exposure to 78 of the 131 listed carcinogenic substances or groups of agents was reported in 1987
  • Reported exposed workers made up 0.6% of the Finnish work force in 1987
  • Chromium (VI) compounds, nickel and its inorganic compounds, and asbestos together accounted for over 60% of all exposed workers reported
  • Chromium (VI) compounds were the most common exposure, with 6,234 workers reported
  • About 4,700 workers were reported as exposed to nickel or its inorganic compounds
  • Asbestos exposure was reported for 3,556 workers, including 2,500 car mechanics and 350 construction workers
  • Asbestos imports in 1987 were reported as 1,000 tons of raw asbestos and 2,250 tons of asbestos products
  • Manufacture of asbestos-containing products ended in Finland in 1988
  • The authors estimated about 60,000 workers, or 2.4% of the work force, are exposed to carcinogens each year
• The authors' conclusion: The authors estimated that far more workers are exposed than are reported, and considered asbestos exposures (along with nitrosoamines and PAHs) presumably underrepresented in the registry
• Limitations the authors state:
  • An administrative rule probably led workplaces to leave out many workers with low exposure
  • Employers may not recognize exposure when the substance is an impurity or is formed during work
  • The registry does not record exposure level or duration
  • Widely used agents still under review were not on the list; adding them would greatly increase reported numbers

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Occupational Exposure, Carcinogenic.

Related studies

• Use of exposure registration in the prevention of occupational cancer in Finland — J. Alho, T. Kauppinen, et al. (1988)
• Retrospective exposure assessment for carcinogenic agents in bitumen waterproofing industry in Finland and denmark — P. Anttila, P. Heikkilä, et al. (2009)
• Breast cancer and occupational exposures in women in Finland — E. Weiderpass, E. Pukkala, et al. (1999)
• Trends of occupational exposure to chemical agents in Finland in 1950-2020 — T. Kauppinen, S. Uuksulainen, et al. (2013)
• Review of occupational lung carcinogens — K. Steenland, D. Loomis, et al. (1996)
• Comparison of exposure assessment methods for occupational carcinogens in a multi-centre lung cancer case-control study — S. Peters, R. Vermeulen, et al. (2011)

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