Occupational studies show a high risk of lung cancer related to arsenic exposure by inhalation; however, only a few studies, and with conflicting results, previously examined a potential link between arsenic exposure at work and skin cancer. The aim of this study is to assess airborne arsenic exposures at the workplace and to quantify associations with non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC). The study sample consists of 618 incident cases of NMSC and 527 hospital-based controls aged 30-79 years from Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia. Exposures were evaluated by local experts using occupational histories. Information on host factors and other exposures was collected and employed to adjust the associations of interest using multivariable logistic regression. The lifetime prevalence of exposure to work-related arsenic is 23.9% for cases and 15.5% for controls. We do not detect a significant association between arsenic exposure in the workplace and NMSC, although an increased adjusted odd ratio is observed for participants with higher cumulative lifetime workplace exposure to arsenic in dust and fumes compared to referents (OR 1.94, 95% CI 0.76-4.95). There is evidence for modification of the workplace arsenic-NMSC association by work-related sunlight exposure in women, with a markedly increased adjusted odds ratio in the presence of workplace sunlight exposure (OR 10.22, 95% CI 2.48-42.07). Workplace co-exposure to arsenic and sunlight may thus pose an increased risk of NMSC. (R.A.)
Auteur : Surdu S, Fitzgerald EF, Bloom MS, Boscoe FP, Carpenter DO, Haase RF, Gurzau E, Rudnai P, Koppova K, Fevotte J, Vahter M, Leonardi G, Goessler W, Kumar R, Fletcher T
International journal of cancer, 2013, vol. 133, n°. 9, p. 2182-91
