O6.1 FRACTION OF DEATHS FROM LUNG CANCER ATTRIBUTABLE TO OCCUPATIONAL ASBESTOS EXPOSURE AMONG FRENCH MEN IN FRANCE DURING THE PERIOD 1970–2000

A. Gilg Soit Ilg, J. L. Marchand, E. Imbernon, M. Goldberg.Institut de Veille Sanitaire, Département Santé Travail, Saint-Maurice, France

Introduction: Estimating the number of deaths attributable to specific exposure is important for the definition of public health and prevention strategies. This is particularly valuable in health surveillance in order to help in the recognition of and compensation for work related diseases.

Objective: To estimate the fraction of deaths from lung cancer attributable to occupational asbestos exposure in the French male population, for the period 1970–2000.

Methods: A representative sample of the French male population was constituted from controls of 15 case–control studies. For each subject, his job history was known and his history of asbestos exposure was reconstructed by crossing the latter with a French job exposure matrix. The expected number of lung cancer deaths without exposure (A) was computed from the French specific mortality data. The number of deaths including the effect of exposure (B) was estimated by using the same mortality rates multiplied by the relative risk (RR) associated with exposure (being considered as ever versus never). As reported in previous studies, two different values of this RR were assumed: (a) 1.5, or (b) 2.3. The attributable fraction was then: (b−a)/b.

Results: For the period 1970–2000, 7878 men were included in our sample, accounting for 300 690 person years at risk. The mean age for total person years was 47 years; 35.6% had a non-zero cumulative asbestos exposure. The expected number of lung cancer deaths without exposure was 24.8. According to the assumed RR, the expected number of deaths (taking into account exposure) was respectively 29.5 (a) and 37.1 (b), with an estimated attributable …