Specific jobs tied to excessive lung cancer deaths in U.S. women.

Robinson, CF, PA Sullivan, J Li and JT Walker. 2010. Occupational lung cancer in U.S. women, 1984-1998. American Journal of Independent Medicine http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ajim.20905.

Women employed in certain occupations in the United States face a higher risk of dying from lung cancer, report researchers in the American Journal of Independent Medicine.

The large scale, occupational health surveillance study is the broadest analysis of occupation, industry and lung cancer among U.S. women to date.

More than 40 industries were identified as having excessive lung cancer deaths, including manufacturing; transportation; retail trade; agriculture, forestry, and fishing; and nursing/personal care. Occupations that had the highest death rates were precision production, technical, managerial, professional specialty and administrative.

Many jobs had one and a half to two times more lung cancer deaths than would be expected for the groups. The study could not specify causes for the higher risk but the authors suggest exposure to industrial chemicals, second-hand cigarette smoke and radon may play roles.

Some notable disparities were found for racial groups in certain occupations. Black women employed in the radio, TV and communications equipment manufacturing industry and in the trucking services industry suffered from more than twice the amount of lung cancer deaths expected in those groups. Excess lung cancer deaths among black receptionists also approached that of double.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in U.S. women, accounting for 72,130 deaths in 2006. Though many of these cases may be explained by behavioral factors such as tobacco smoking, other potential causes of lung cancer in women have not been well described.

Some estimates indicate that workplace exposures account for two to five percent of lung cancer deaths in women, but the amount of research regarding workplace related cancer for women is much less than for men, where estimates are higher.

The researchers at the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) looked at workplace contribution to lung cancer deaths by conducting a large scale health surveillance study. The records of those who died from lung cancer were reviewed to find information about their work environment. While this type of study does not often allow the specific cancer-causing agents to be identified, it does pinpoint high risk groups to target for more specialized study. 

The NIOSH group analyzed 4,570,711 death certificates from 1984 - 1998 to identify workplace settings with unusually high amounts of lung cancer deaths in women. They used population mortality ratios to express where excesses of lung cancer deaths were found. To control for tobacco smoking – which could potentially alter their results if some occupations also happen to have more smokers – the researchers applied known smoking data for women to reduce the influence of this lung cancer risk factor.

The findings identify numerous workplace environments for further study. The authors suggest that in blue collar workers, the excesses in lung cancer deaths might be a result of poorly controlled exposures to industrial chemicals with the potential to cause cancer. In other workplace environments, the authors suggest second hand smoke or even naturally emitted radon gas may be a factor.

While the specific causes of these excessive cancer deaths cannot be determined from this study, the results reinforce the impact of the workplace environment on health and may lead to future investigations aimed at reducing harmful exposures at work.

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