rss
Occup Environ Med 2006;63:788-793 doi:10.1136/oem.2005.026229
  • Original article

Occupational risk factors for pancreatic cancer among female textile workers in Shanghai, China

  1. W Li1,3,
  2. R M Ray1,
  3. D L Gao2,
  4. E D Fitzgibbons5,
  5. N S Seixas3,
  6. J E Camp3,
  7. K J Wernli1,3,
  8. G Astrakianakis4,
  9. Z Feng1,3,
  10. D B Thomas1,3,
  11. H Checkoway1,3
  1. 1Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA
  2. 2Department of Epidemiology, Zhong Shan Hospital Cancer Center, Shanghai, China
  3. 3School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
  4. 4Occupational Health and Safety Agency for Healthcare, Vancouver, BC, Canada
  5. 5Group Health Center for Health Studies, Seattle, WA, USA
  1. Correspondence to:
 Dr W Li
 Epidemiology Program, Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutch Cancer Research Center, 1100 Fairview Avenue North, Building M4-A402, PO Box 19024, Seattle WA, 98109, USA; wli{at}fhcrc.org
  • Accepted 23 June 2006
  • Published Online First 17 July 2006

Abstract

Objectives

To investigate whether occupational exposures to dusts and chemicals in the Shanghai textile industry are associated with risk of pancreatic cancer.

Methods

A case cohort study nested in a cohort of 267 400 female textile workers in Shanghai, China was conducted among 180 incident pancreatic cancer cases and an age stratified randomly selected comparison subcohort (n = 3188). A complete occupational history of work in the textile industry was obtained for each woman, and was linked to a job exposure matrix developed for the textile industry to estimate exposures to specific dusts and chemicals. Cumulative exposures to cotton dust and endotoxin were reconstructed from historical and contemporaneous measurements.

Results

After adjusting for smoking status, a trend of decreasing risk of pancreatic cancer was observed for increasing cumulative exposures to cotton dust and endotoxin with a lag of 20 years. The hazard ratios for women cumulatively exposed to >143.4 mg/m3× years of cotton dust and >3530.6 EU/m3× years of endotoxin were 0.6 (95% CI 0.3 to 0.9) and 0.5 (95% CI 0.3 to 0.9), respectively, compared to unexposed women. There was little evidence that exposures to other textile dusts and chemicals were associated with risk of pancreatic cancer.

Conclusions

Occupational exposure to cotton dust and endotoxin in the textile industry may have reduced risks of pancreatic cancer in this cohort. These associations should be replicated by others before making a firm conclusion of their possible effects on pancreatic cancer.

Footnotes

  • Published Online First 17 July 2006

This Article

  1. Abstract
  2. Full text
  3. PDF
  4. All Versions of this Article:
    1. oem.2005.026229v1
    2. 63/12/788 most recent

Responses

  1. Submit a response
  2. No responses published

Social bookmarking

Register for free content


Free sample
 This recent issue is free to all users to allow everyone the opportunity to see the full scope and typical content of OEM.
View free sample issue >>

Free archive
The full back archive is now available for OEM. Institutional subscribers may access the entire archive as part of their subscription. Personal subscribers will also have access to all content when logged in. Non-subscribers who register have free access to all articles published before 2006, back to volume 1 issue 1.
Register to access the free archive >>

Don't forget to sign up for content alerts so you keep up to date with all the articles as they are published.