Article Text
Abstract
Objectives In a previous analysis of data from a French population-based case–control study (the Investigation of occupational and environmental CAuses of REspiratory cancers (ICARE) study), ‘having ever worked’ in wood-related occupations was associated with excess lung cancer risk after adjusting for smoking but not for occupational factors. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between lung cancer risk and wood dust exposure after adjusting for occupational exposures.
Methods Data were obtained from 2276 cases and 2780 controls on smoking habits and lifelong occupational history, using a standardised questionnaire with a job-specific questionnaire for wood dust exposure. Logistic regression models were used to calculate ORs and 95% CIs adjusted for age, area of residence, tobacco smoking, the number of job periods and exposure to silica, asbestos and diesel motor exhaust (DME).
Results No significant association was found between lung cancer and wood dust exposure after adjustment for smoking, asbestos, silica and DME exposures. The risk of lung cancer was slightly increased among those who were exposed to wood dust more than 10 years, and had over 40 years since the first exposure.
Conclusion Our findings do not provide a strong support to the hypothesis that wood dust exposure is a risk factor for lung cancer. This study showed the importance of taking into account smoking and occupational coexposures in studies on lung cancer and wood dust exposure. Further studies evaluating the level and frequency of exposure during various tasks in woodwork are needed.
- Wood dust
- Asbestos
- Lung cancer
- Case-control study
- Epidemiology
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Footnotes
Collaborators Members of ICARE study: Anne-Valérie Guizard (Registre des cancers du Calvados, France); Arlette Danzon, Anne-Sophie Woronoff (Registre des cancers du Doubs et du Territoire de Belfort, France); Velten Michel (Registre des cancers du Bas-Rhin, France); Antoine Buemi, Émilie Marrer (Registre des cancers du Haut-Rhin, France); Brigitte Tretarre (Registre des cancers de l’Hérault, France); Marc Colonna, Patricia Delafosse (Registre des cancers de l’Isère, France); Paolo Bercelli, Florence Molinie (Registre des cancers de Loire-Atlantique-Vendée, France); Simona Bara (Registre des cancers de la Manche, France); Bénédicte Lapotre-Ledoux, Nicole Raverdy (Registre des cancers de la Somme, France); Oumar Gaye, Farida Lamkarkach (Inserm, Centre for Research in Epidemiology and Population Health (CESP), U1018, Environmental Epidemiology of Cancer Team, F-94807, Villejuif, France), Corinne Pilorget (Institut national de Veille Sanitaire (InVS), 94410 Saint-Maurice, France).
Contributors MM: statistical analysis, results, drafting. LR: help for results and drafting. JF: questionnaires. FG: creation of the asbestos task-exposure matrix, data management. SC, DC, MS, AS: data management. GM: re-reading. EM: histological analysis. DL: design of the study, help for results and drafting. IS: design of the study.
Funding This work was supported by the French Agency of Health Security (ANSES), the Foundation of France, the French National Research Agency (ANR), the National Institute of Cancer (INCA), the Foundation of Medical Research (FRM), the French Institute for Public Health Survey (InVS), the Health Ministry (DGS), the Agency for Research on Cancer (ARC), and the French Ministry of Work, Solidarity and Public Function (DGT).
Competing interests None declared.
Patient consent for publication Not required.
Ethics approval The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (IRB-INSERM, No 01-036) and by the French Data Protection Authority (CNIL No 90120).
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
Data availability statement All data relevant to the study are included in the article.