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Occupation and bladder cancer among men in Western Europe

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Abstract

Objectives: We examined which occupations and industries are currently at high risk for bladder cancer in men. Methods: We combined data from 11 case–control studies conducted between 1976–1996 in six European countries. The study comprised 3346 incident cases and 6840 controls, aged 30–79 years. Lifetime occupational and smoking histories were examined using common coding. Results: Odds ratios for eight a priori defined high-risk occupations were low, and with the exception of metal workers and machinists (OR = 1.16, 95% CI = 1.02–1.32), were not statistically significant. Higher risks were observed for specific categories of painters, metal, textile and electrical workers, for miners, transport operators, excavating-machine operators, and also for non-industrial workers such as concierges and janitors. Industries entailing a high risk included salt mining, manufacture of carpets, paints, plastics and industrial chemicals. An increased risk was found for exposure to PAHs (OR for highest exposure tertile = 1.23, 95% CI = 1.07–1.4). The risk attributable to occupation ranged from 4.2 to 7.4%, with an estimated 4.3% for exposure to PAHs. Conclusions: Metal workers, machinists, transport equipment operators and miners are among the major occupations contributing to occupational bladder cancer in men in Western Europe. In this population one in 10 to one in 20 cancers of the bladder can be attributed to occupation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Respiratory and Environmental Health Research Unit, Municipal Institute of Medical Research (IMIM), 80 Dr Aiguader Rd, Barcelona, 08003, Spain

    Manolis Kogevinas

  2. Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, USA

    Manolis Kogevinas

  3. International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France

    Andrea 't Mannetje & Paolo Boffetta

  4. INSERM U435, Université de Rennes I, France

    Sylvaine Cordier

  5. Institut für Umweltmedizinische Forschung (IUF), Heinrich-Heine-Universität, Düsseldorf, Germany

    Ulrich Ranft

  6. Department of Epidemiology Catalan Institute of Oncology, Barcelona, Spain

    Carlos A. González

  7. Unit of Cancer Epidemiology, University of Turin, Italy

    Paolo Vineis

  8. Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Abteilung Epidemiologie, Heidelberg, Germany

    Jenny Chang-Claude & Jürgen Wahrendorf

  9. Institute of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

    Elsebeth Lynge

  10. Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Medical School of Athens, Athens, Greece

    Anastasia Tzonou

  11. Institut für Medizinische Informatik, Biometrie und Epidemiologie, Essen, Germany

    Karl-Heinz Jöckel

  12. Corporació Parc Taulí, Sabadell, Spain

    Consol Serra

  13. Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain

    Consol Serra

  14. Institute of Occupational Health, University of Brescia, Italy

    Stefano Porru

  15. Institut d'Épidémiologie, Université Claude Bernard, Lyon, France

    Martine Hours

  16. Bremen Institute for Prevention Research and Social Medicine, Bremen, Germany

    Eberhard Greiser

Authors
  1. Manolis Kogevinas
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  2. Andrea 't Mannetje
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  3. Sylvaine Cordier
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  4. Ulrich Ranft
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  5. Carlos A. González
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  6. Paolo Vineis
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  7. Jenny Chang-Claude
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  8. Elsebeth Lynge
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  9. Jürgen Wahrendorf
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  10. Anastasia Tzonou
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  11. Karl-Heinz Jöckel
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  12. Consol Serra
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  13. Stefano Porru
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  14. Martine Hours
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  15. Eberhard Greiser
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  16. Paolo Boffetta
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Manolis Kogevinas.

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Kogevinas, M., Mannetje, A.'., Cordier, S. et al. Occupation and bladder cancer among men in Western Europe. Cancer Causes Control 14, 907–914 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:CACO.0000007962.19066.9c

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:CACO.0000007962.19066.9c

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