Deaths from nasopharyngeal cancer among waiters and waitresses in Chinese restaurants

Yu, Ignatius Tak Sun; Chiu, Yung-Tuen; Wong, Tze-Wai; Tang, Jin‐Ling

doi:10.1007/s00420-004-0543-0

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 28 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Our results show an excess incidence of OPC in waiters and waitresses, which corroborates the previous literature which describes waiters being at increased risk of head and neck cancers [18][19][20]. The increased occurrence of OPC in waiters is most likely due to several types of inhalational workplace hazards.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Occupational variation in incidence of oropharyngeal cancer in the Nordic countries

Mroueh

Mäkitie

Carpén

et al. 2023

Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose Evaluate the occupational variation in incidence of oropharyngeal cancer (OPC). Methods We calculated standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) of OPC in occupational categories in the Nordic countries relative to the entire national populations. The data covered 6155 OPC cases. Results Among men high risk of OPC was observed, among else, in waiters (SIR 6.28, 95% CI 4.68–8.26), beverage workers (SIR 3.00, 95% CI 1.72–4.88), and artistic workers (SIR 2.97, 95% CI 2.31–3.76). Among women high risk of OPC was observed in waiters (SIR 2.02, 95% CI 1.41–2.81) and packers (SIR 1.73, 95% CI 1.07–2.64). The lowest SIRs were observed in female gardeners (SIR 0.27, 95% CI 0.12–0.51) and male farmers (SIR 0.30, 95% CI 0.25–0.35). Conclusion The 20-fold variation in incidence of OPC between occupations needs further investigation in studies with detailed information on occupational and non-occupational risk factors.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Occupational variation in incidence of oropharyngeal cancer in the Nordic countries

Mroueh

Mäkitie

Carpén

et al. 2023

Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Formation of DPC in the nasal respiratory mucosa due to chronic inhalation of formaldehyde has been evidenced [20]. Epidemiological studies revealed evidence for the carcinogenicity of formalin and reported that industrial workers who are exposed to formaldehyde or formaldehyde-containing products are at increased risk of nasopharyngeal and hypopharyngeal cancers [17,21,22]. However, there was no association with the highest formaldehyde exposure and lung cancer or leukemia [23,24].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Formaldehyde-related clinical symptoms reported by medical students during gross anatomy cadaver dissection

Pietrzyk¹,

Torres²,

Denisow-Pietrzyk³

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Introduction. Formaldehyde is a noxious gas used as a tissue preservative of cadavers in autopsy rooms. Therefore, exposure to higher concentrations applies particularly to laboratory staff, anatomists and medical students. Prolonged exposure to formaldehyde is associated with clinical complications. Objective. To assess whether exposure to repeated inhalation of low concentrations of formaldehyde (FA) experienced during a gross anatomy course triggers subjective clinical symptoms in medical students. Material and methods. All 198 first-year medical students of the Medical University of Lublin, Poland (28% with allergy history and 72% without allergy history; 69% male and 31% female) responded to a questionnaire concerning their subjective FA-related clinical symptoms. Differences in proportions of experienced symptoms between allergic vs. nonallergic, and female vs. males were compared by the Mann-Whitney U test. Results. Even though formaldehyde concentrations in the gross anatomy laboratory were relatively low (0.47-0.57 mg/m 3 ), medical students experienced various reactions (lacrimation in 85.9%, red eyes, dry and itchy eyes, runny nose, sneezing, and headache in > 50% of students, cough in 44%, and dry throat or throat irritation in 42% of students). Among students with a history of allergy, eye, nose, skin and respiratory system symptoms occurred more frequently in comparison to nonallergic students. Female individuals demonstrated higher sensitivity to FA exposure. Conclusions. Exposure to formaldehyde may result in development of clinical symptoms in medical students. Particularly unpleasant symptoms may be experienced by individuals with allergy history. It is necessary to decrease formaldehyde concentrations in the anatomy dissection laboratory. streszczenie Wprowadzenie. Formaldehyd to szkodliwa substancja chemiczna, której wodny roztwór jest powszechnie stosowany jako środek konserwujący w prosektoriach anatomicznych. Osobami szczególnie narażo-nymi na ekspozycję na formaldehyd są studenci medycyny oraz perFormaldehyde-related clinical symptoms reported by medical students during gross anatomy cadaver dissection subiektywne objawy kliniczne u studentów medycyny związane z ekspozycją na formaldehyd podczas zajęć prosektoryjnych z anatomii

show abstract

“…Previously, Nordic waiters have been related to elevated incidence of lung cancer, oral cancer and pharyngeal cancer [33]. An increased risk of death from NPC was reported among waiters in China [34]. One explanation may be that waiters have been exposed to passive and active tobacco smoke, which has also been associated with NPC [4,35].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Occupational risk variation of nasopharyngeal cancer in the Nordic countries

Carpén

Gille

Hammarstedt‐Nordenvall

et al. 2022

BMC Cancer

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background The aim of this study was to estimate occupational risk variation in the incidence of nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) in a large population-based cohort of the Nordic Occupational Cancer (NOCCA) study. Methods This study is based on a cohort of almost 15 million persons from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, with 2898 nasopharyngeal cancer cases diagnosed in 1961–2005. The data on occupations were gathered from population censuses and cancer data from the national cancer registries. Standardized incidence ratios (SIR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using the national NPC incidence rates as the reference. Results There were 1980 male and 918 female NPC patients. The highest SIRs of NPC were observed among male waiters (SIR 3.69, 95% CI 1.91–6.45) and cooks and stewards (SIR 2.24, 95% CI 1.16–3.91). Among women, launderers had the highest SIR of NPC (2.04, 95% CI 1.02–3.65). Significantly decreased SIRs were found among male farmers (SIR 0.79, 95% CI 0.68–0.92) and male textile workers (SIR 0.49, 95% CI 0.22–0.93). Conclusions This study suggests that NPC may be associated with several work-related exposure agents such as smoking, kitchen air pollution and solvents. In future, occupational exposure-risk relations should be studied to understand more about causality and to assess effective prevention strategies.

show abstract

Deaths from nasopharyngeal cancer among waiters and waitresses in Chinese restaurants

Abstract: An increased risk of dying from NPC was observed among waiters/waitresses and could not be fully explained by bias or confounding factors. Possible risk factors related to poor indoor air quality in the service areas of Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong should be further investigated.

Cited by 7 publications

References 28 publications

Occupational variation in incidence of oropharyngeal cancer in the Nordic countries

Occupational variation in incidence of oropharyngeal cancer in the Nordic countries

Formaldehyde-related clinical symptoms reported by medical students during gross anatomy cadaver dissection

Occupational risk variation of nasopharyngeal cancer in the Nordic countries

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About