| Document ID (ISN) | 75053 |
| CIS number |
00-798 |
| ISSN - Serial title |
1351-0711 - Occupational and Environmental Medicine |
| Year |
1998 |
| Convention or series no. |
|
| Author(s) |
de Klerk N.H., Musk A.W. |
| Title |
Silica, compensated silicosis, and lung cancer in Western Australian goldminers |
| Bibliographic information |
Apr. 1998, Vol.55, No.4, p.243-248. 27 ref. |
| Abstract |
Silica has recently been reclassified as carcinogenic in humans based largely on the observed increase in rates of lung cancer in subjects with silicosis. This study aims to examine exposure-response relations between exposure to silica and subsequent silicosis and lung cancer in a cohort of goldminers. A total of 2,297 goldminers was examined in 1961, 1974 and 1975. Data were collected on respiratory symptoms, smoking habits and employment history. Subjects were followed up to the end of 1993. Survival analyses for lung cancer mortality and incidence of compensated silicosis were performed with age and year matched conditional logistic regression analyses. 89% of the cohort were traced to the end of 1993. 84% of the men had smoked at some time and 66% were current smokers. 1386 deaths occurred during the follow up period, 138 from lung cancer, and 631 subjects were compensated for silicosis. A strong effect of smoking on mortality from lung cancer and a smaller effect on the incidence of compensated silicosis was found. The incidence of silicosis was clearly related to exposure to silica and the onset of silicosis conferred a significant increase in risk for subsequent lung cancer, but there was no evidence that exposure to silica caused lung cancer in the absence of silicosis. |
| Descriptors (primary) |
silica; gold mining; silicosis; lung cancer |
| Descriptors (secondary) |
mortality; cohort study; statistical evaluation; dose-response relationship; long-term study |
| Document type |
D - Periodical articles |
| Country / State or Province | Australia |
| Subject(s) |
Mines and quarries
|
| Broad subject area(s) |
Chemical safety
|
| Browse category(ies) |
Mining and quarrying
Pneumoconioses
Diseases of the respiratory system (except for pneumoconiosis & similar)
|
