Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Colorectal Cancer Incidence Among Female Textile Workers in Shanghai, China: A Case-cohort Analysis of Occupational Exposures

  • Published:
Cancer Causes & Control Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Previous studies have suggested increased risks of colorectal cancers among textile industry workers, potentially related to synthetic fibers. To investigate risks of colon and rectum cancers in relation to these and other textile industry exposures, we conducted a case-cohort study nested within a cohort study of female employees from the Shanghai Textile Industry Bureau (STIB). Cox proportional hazard regression modeling was used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) for colon and rectum cancers associated with duration of employment (e.g., 0, >0 to <10, 10 to <20 years, ≥20 years) in various jobs classified according to process type and exposures to specific agents. Our findings indicate that certain long term exposures may pose increased risk of colorectal cancers, especially dyes and dye intermediates with colon cancer (≥20 years exposure versus never, HR=3.9; 95% CI: 1.4–10.6), and maintenance occupation (HR = 2.3; 95% CI: 1.0–5.7) and metals exposure (HR = 2.0; 95% CI: 1.1–3.6) with rectum cancer. A decreased risk of rectum cancer was associated with exposure to natural fibers such as cotton (HR = 0.7; 95% CI: 0.5–0.9), and a trend of decreasing rectum cancer incidence was observed by category of cumulative quantitative cotton dust or endotoxin exposures, when exposures were lagged by 20 years.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. J Vobecky G Devroede J Lacaille A Water (1978) ArticleTitleAn occupational group with a high risk of large bowel cancer Gastroenterology 75 221–223 Occurrence Handle669208

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. N Szeszenia-Dabrowska U Wilczynska A Strzelecka W Sobala (1999) ArticleTitleMortality in the cotton industry workers: results of a cohort study Int J Occup Med Environ Health 12 143–158 Occurrence Handle10465905

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. AS Costantini R Pirastu S Lagorio L Miligi G Costa (1994) ArticleTitleStudying cancer among female workers: methods and preliminary results from a record-linkage system in Italy J Occup Med 36 1180–1186 Occurrence Handle7861261

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. R Dubrow DM Gute (1988) ArticleTitleCause-specific mortality among male textile workers in Rhode Island Am J Ind Med 13 439–454 Occurrence Handle3364422

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. JW Berg MA Howell (1975) ArticleTitleOccupation and bowel cancer J Toxicol Environ Health 1 75–89 Occurrence Handle1185818

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. MS Goldberg G Theriault (1994) ArticleTitleRetrospective cohort study of workers of a synthetic textiles plant in Quebec: II. Colorectal cancer mortality and incidence Am J Ind Med 25 909–922 Occurrence Handle8067366

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. E Delzell S Grufferman (1983) ArticleTitleCancer and other causes of death among female textile workers, 1976–78 J Natl Cancer Inst 71 735–740 Occurrence Handle6578369

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. L Fritschi R Lakhani L Nadon M Bulsara (2004) ArticleTitleMortality in an Australian cohort of textile workers Occup Med (Lond) 54 255–257 Occurrence Handle10.1093/occmed/kqh053

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. I Kuzmickiene R Didziapetris M Stukonis (2004) ArticleTitleCancer incidence in the workers cohort of textile manufacturing factory in Alytus, Lithuania J Occup Environ Med 46 147–153 Occurrence Handle14767217

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. TR O’Brien P Decoufle (1988) ArticleTitleCancer mortality among northern Georgia carpet and textile workers Am J Ind Med 14 15–24 Occurrence Handle3407646

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Wernli KJ, Ray RM, Gao DL, Thomas DB, Checkoway H, (2003) Cancer among women textile workers in Shanghai, China – overall incidence patterns, 1989–1998. Am J Ind Med.

  12. J Vobecky J Caro G Devroede (1983) ArticleTitleA case-control study of risk factors for large bowel carcinoma Cancer 51 1958–1963 Occurrence Handle6831361

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. J Siemiatycki L Richardson M Gerin et al. (1986) ArticleTitleAssociations between several sites of cancer and nine organic dusts: results from an hypothesis-generating case-control study in Montreal, 1979–1983 Am J Epidemiol 123 235–249 Occurrence Handle3946373

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. S Dumas ME Parent J Siemiatycki J Brisson (2000) ArticleTitleRectal cancer and occupational risk factors: a hypothesis-generating, exposure-based case-control study Int J Cancer 87 874–879 Occurrence Handle10.1002/1097-0215(20000915)87:6<874::AID-IJC18>3.0.CO;2-L Occurrence Handle10956400

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. G Mastrangelo R Serena V Marzia (1993) ArticleTitleMortality from tumours in workers in an acrylic fibre factory Occup Med (Lond) 43 155–158

    Google Scholar 

  16. G Mastrangelo U Fedeli E Fadda G Milan JH Lange (2002) ArticleTitleEpidemiologic evidence of cancer risk in textile industry workers: a review and update Toxicol Ind Health 18 171–181 Occurrence Handle10.1191/0748233702th139rr Occurrence Handle12974540

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. DB Thomas DL Gao RM Ray et al. (2002) ArticleTitleRandomized trial of breast self-examination in Shanghai: final results J Natl Cancer Inst 94 1445–1457 Occurrence Handle12359854

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. DB Thomas DL Gao SG Self et al. (1997) ArticleTitleRandomized trial of breast self-examination in Shanghai: methodology and preliminary results J Natl Cancer Inst 89 355–365 Occurrence Handle10.1093/jnci/89.5.355 Occurrence Handle9060957

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Anonymous (2002) Cancer Incidence in Five Continents. Lyon, France: International Agency for Research on Cancer.

  20. O Borgan B Langholz SO Samuelsen L Goldstein J Pogoda (2000) ArticleTitleExposure stratified case-cohort designs Lifetime Data Anal 6 39–58 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1009661900674 Occurrence Handle10763560 Occurrence HandleMR1767493

    Article  PubMed  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  21. JE Camp NS Seixas K Wernli et al. (2003) ArticleTitleDevelopment of a cancer research study in the Shanghai textile industry Int J Occup Environ Health 9 347–356 Occurrence Handle14664489

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Wernli KJ, Astrakianakis G, Seixas N, et al. (2005) Development of a job exposure matrix (JEM) for the textile industry. J Occup Environ Hyp 2005.

  23. Astrakianakis G. Cotton Dust, Endotoxin Exposure and the Risk of Lung Cancer among Female Textile Workers in Shanghai. 2005. Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington.

  24. DC Christiani TT Ye DH Wegman et al. (1994) ArticleTitleCotton dust exposure, across-shift drop in FEV1, and five-year change in lung function Am J Respir Crit Care Med 150 1250–1255 Occurrence Handle7952548

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. DC Christiani TT Ye S Zhang et al. (1999) ArticleTitleCotton dust and endotoxin exposure and long-term decline in lung function: results of a longitudinal study Am J Ind Med 35 321–331 Occurrence Handle10.1002/(SICI)1097-0274(199904)35:4<321::AID-AJIM1>3.0.CO;2-L Occurrence Handle10086207

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. SA Olenchock DC Christiani JC Mull TT Ye PL Lu (1990) ArticleTitleAirborne endotoxin concentrations in various work areas within two cotton textile mills in the People’s Republic of China Biomed Environ Sci 3 443–451 Occurrence Handle2096849

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. SA Olenchock DC Christiani JC Mull TT Ye PL Lu (1983) ArticleTitleEndotoxins in baled cottons and airborne dusts in textile mills in the People’s Republic of China Appl Environ Microbiol 46 817–820 Occurrence Handle6639029

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. WE Barlow (1994) ArticleTitleRobust variance estimation for the case-cohort design Biometrics 50 1064–1072 Occurrence Handle7786988

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. KA Rosenblatt DL Gao RM Ray ZC Nelson DB Thomas (2004) ArticleTitleContraceptive methods and induced abortions and their association with the risk of colon cancer in Shanghai, China Eur J Cancer 40 590–593 Occurrence Handle10.1016/j.ejca.2003.09.037 Occurrence Handle14962728

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. J Vobecky G Devroede J Caro (1984) ArticleTitleRisk of large-bowel cancer in synthetic fiber manufacture Cancer 54 2537–2542 Occurrence Handle6498744

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. D Schottenfeld SJ Winawer (1996) Cancers of the Large Intestine D Schottenfeld JF Fraumeni SuffixJr. (Eds) Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Oxford University Press New York, NY 813–840

    Google Scholar 

  32. MS Goldberg G Theriault (1994) ArticleTitleRetrospective cohort study of workers of a synthetic textiles plant in Quebec: I. General mortality Am J Ind Med 25 889–907 Occurrence Handle8067365

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. RP Gallagher WJ Threlfall (1983) ArticleTitleCancer mortality in metal workers Can Med Assoc J 129 1191–1194 Occurrence Handle6640455

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. R Rylander (2002) ArticleTitleEndotoxin in the environment–exposure and effects J Endotoxin Res 8 241–252 Occurrence Handle10.1179/096805102125000452 Occurrence Handle12230914

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. G Arbman O Axelson M Fredriksson E Nilsson R Sjodahl (1993) ArticleTitleDo occupational factors influence the risk of colon and rectal cancer in different ways? Cancer 72 2543–2549 Occurrence Handle8402474

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. SK Hoar A Blair (1984) ArticleTitleDeath certificate case-control study of cancers of the prostate and colon and employment in the textile industry Arch Environ Health 39 280–283 Occurrence Handle6497444

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA

    A.J. De Roos, K. J. Wernli, D. B. Thomas & H. Checkoway

  2. Division of Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington, USA

    A.J. De Roos, R. M. Ray, K. J. Wernli, E. D. Fitzgibbons, F. Ziding & D. B. Thomas

  3. Department of Epidemiology, Zhong Shan Hospital Cancer Center, People’s Republic of China

    D. L. Gao

  4. Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA

    G. Astrakianakis & H. Checkoway

  5. Anneclaire J. De Roos, 1100 Fairview Avenue N, M4-B874, P.O. Box 19024, Seattle, WA, 98109-1024, USA

    A.J. De Roos

Authors
  1. A.J. De Roos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. R. M. Ray
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. D. L. Gao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. K. J. Wernli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. E. D. Fitzgibbons
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. F. Ziding
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. G. Astrakianakis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. D. B. Thomas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. H. Checkoway
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to A.J. De Roos.

Additional information

Department and institution where this work was performed: Division of Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington, USA.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

De Roos, A., Ray, R.M., Gao, D.L. et al. Colorectal Cancer Incidence Among Female Textile Workers in Shanghai, China: A Case-cohort Analysis of Occupational Exposures. Cancer Causes Control 16, 1177–1188 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-005-0398-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-005-0398-z

Key words

Search

Navigation