Environmental and occupational cancer in Argentina: a case-control lung cancer study

• Main Authors: Elena Matos, Marta Vilensky, Paolo Boffetta
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz
• Series: Cadernos de Saúde Pública
• Subjects: exposición ocupacional; neoplasias pulmonares; estudios de casos y controles
• Online Access: http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0102-311X1998000700008&lng=en&tlng=en

The main objective of this study was to analyze the risks for lung cancer associated with occupational exposures in a developing country where lung cancer is the first cause of mortality from cancer in men. The study involved 200 men with lung cancer and 397 hospital controls. The OR for current smokers was 8.5, whereas former smokers displayed an OR of 5.3. The fraction attributable to smoking was 85%. Statistically significant high ORs were observed for employment in the alcoholic beverages industry (4.5, 95% CI:1.02-20.2), sawmills and wood mills (4.6, 95% CI:1.1-18.4), chemicals/plastics (1.8, 95% CI:1.04-3.2), and pottery, glass, or mineral manufactures (3.4, 95% CI:1.1-10.6). Other high, but not statistically significant, risks were observed for employment in leather shoe industry and repair (2.1, 95% CI:0.8-5.4), rubber industries (3.4, 95% CI:0.9-12.4), metal workers, including welders (1.9, 95% CI:0.8-4.4), motor vehicle mechanics (2.0, 95% CI:0.9-4.2), workers in cleaning services (1.9, 95% CI:0.8-4.5), and for workers in agriculture (2.4, 95% CI:0.9-6.0). Although some of the present results may be due to chance, most are consistent with those of previous investigations in other countries.