Meta-Analysis of Lung Cancer in Asphalt Roofing and Paving Workers with External Adjustment for Confounding by Coal Tar

Fayerweather, William E.

doi:10.1080/15459620701335035

Cited by 17 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…As such, these assumptions are likely to inflate the bias factor. Similarly, a meta-analysis by Fayerweather33 addressing residual confounding by coal tar use also depended on the unrealistic assumptions about the exposure distributions as discussed in detail by Burstyn and Kromhout 34. This indicates that great care must be taken in defending assumptions used in sensitivity analysis, but it must be said in defence of quantitative sensitivity analyses that the transparent nature of assumptions they entail elevates the discussion of latent confounding from the realm of speculation to numerical analysis.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bayesian modelling of lung cancer risk and bitumen fume exposure adjusted for unmeasured confounding by smoking

et al. 2008

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Objectives:Residual confounding can be present in epidemiological studies because information on confounding factors was not collected. A Bayesian framework, which has the advantage over frequentist methods that the uncertainty in the association between the confounding factor and exposure and disease can be reflected in the credible intervals of the risk parameter, is proposed to assess the magnitude and direction of this bias.Methods:To illustrate this method, bias from smoking as an unmeasured confounder in a cohort study of lung cancer risk in the European asphalt industry was assessed. A Poisson disease model was specified to assess lung cancer risk associated with career average, cumulative and lagged bitumen fume exposure. Prior distributions for the exposure strata, as well as for other covariates, were specified as uninformative normal distributions. The priors on smoking habits were specified as Dirichlet distributions based on smoking prevalence estimates available for a sub-cohort and assumptions about precision of these estimates.Results:Median bias in this example was estimated at 13%, and suggested an attenuating effect on the original exposure–disease associations. Nonetheless, the results still implied an increased lung cancer risk, especially for average exposure.Conclusions:This Bayesian framework provides a method to assess the bias from an unmeasured confounding factor taking into account the uncertainty surrounding the estimate and from random sampling error. Specifically for this example, the bias arising from unmeasured smoking history in this asphalt workers’ cohort is unlikely to explain the increased lung cancer risk associated with average bitumen fume exposure found in the original study.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bayesian modelling of lung cancer risk and bitumen fume exposure adjusted for unmeasured confounding by smoking

et al. 2008

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“… Lewis (2012) reviewed several studies of lung cancer risk in connection with industries and occupations in which naphthalene exposure is common, including the petroleum ( Wong and Raabe, 2000 ; Consonni et al 1999 ; Lewis et al 2003 ; Rushton, 1993 ), asphalt ( Boffetta et al 2003a , b ; Olsson et al 2010 ; Fayerweather 2007 ), and creosote industries ( Wong and Harris, 2005 ), and jet-fuel handlers ( D’Mello and Yamane, 2007 ; Yamane, 2006 ). No association with lung or nasal cancer was reported in any of the studies.…”

Section: Human Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hypothesis-based weight-of-evidence evaluation and risk assessment for naphthalene carcinogenesis

Bailey

Nascarella

Kerper

et al. 2015

Critical Reviews in Toxicology

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Inhalation of naphthalene causes olfactory epithelial nasal tumors in rats (but not in mice) and benign lung adenomas in mice (but not in rats). The limited available human data have not identified an association between naphthalene exposure and increased respiratory cancer risk. Assessing naphthalene's carcinogenicity in humans, therefore, depends entirely on experimental evidence from rodents. We evaluated the respiratory carcinogenicity of naphthalene in rodents, and its potential relevance to humans, using our Hypothesis-Based Weight-of-Evidence (HBWoE) approach. We systematically and comparatively reviewed data relevant to key elements in the hypothesized modes of action (MoA) to determine which is best supported by the available data, allowing all of the data from each realm of investigation to inform interpretation of one another. Our analysis supports a mechanism that involves initial metabolism of naphthalene to the epoxide, followed by GSH depletion, cytotoxicity, chronic inflammation, regenerative hyperplasia, and tumor formation, with possible weak genotoxicity from downstream metabolites occurring only at high cytotoxic doses, strongly supporting a non-mutagenic threshold MoA in the rat nose. We also conducted a dose–response analysis, based on the likely MoA, which suggests that the rat nasal MoA is not relevant in human respiratory tissues at typical environmental exposures. Our analysis illustrates how a thorough WoE evaluation can be used to support a MoA, even when a mechanism of action cannot be fully elucidated. A non-mutagenic threshold MoA for naphthalene-induced rat nasal tumors should be considered as a basis to determine human relevance and to guide regulatory and risk-management decisions.

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“…Normally, the coal-tar-based sealants contain more than >50,000 mg/kg of the 16 PAHs [ 26 , 30 ] that makes them potentially a source of toxic emission. The meta-analysis performed in [ 31 ] provided evidences supporting the hypothesis that the exposure to the combination of various coal tar-related PAHs can explain most if not all cases of lung cancer among workers of asphalt roofing and paving. Van Metre et al [ 32 ] carried out a quantitative study of PAH volatilization after application of coal-tar-based pavement.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 84%

Primary and Secondary Emissions of VOCs and PAHs in Indoor Air from a Waterproof Coal-Tar Membrane: Diagnosis and Remediation

Piñeiro

Jiménez-Relinque

Nevshupa

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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Primary and secondary emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from a waterproof coal tar membrane and their effect on the indoor air quality were investigated through a case study in a residential building situated in Madrid, Spain. The air contaminants were analyzed in situ using photoionization method and several samples of contaminants were taken using three sorbents: activated carbon, XAD2 and Tenax GR. It was found that various VOCs such as toluene, p- and m-Xylene, PAHs such as naphthalene, methyl-naphthalenes, acenaphthene, acenaphthylene, phenanthrene and fluorine, volatile organic halogens including chloroform and trichlorofluoromethane, and alkylbenzene (1,2,4-trimethylbenzene) were found at concentrations, which exceeded the limits established by international and national agencies (WHO, EPA, OSHA). Some of the above organic compounds were found also in the samples of construction and building materials, which were obtained at different heights and places. The analysis of possible sources of the contaminants pointed at the original coal-tar membrane, which was applied on the terrace to be waterproof. During a posterior reparation the membrane was coated with a new one that hindered dissipation of emitted contaminants. The contaminants leached out and were absorbed by construction materials down in the dwelling. These materials then acted as secondary emission sources. To remediate the emission problem as the contaminated materials were removed and then a ventilation system was installed to force the gasses being emitted from the rest of contaminated slab outside. Follow-up has validated the success of the remediation procedure.

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Meta-Analysis of Lung Cancer in Asphalt Roofing and Paving Workers with External Adjustment for Confounding by Coal Tar

Cited by 17 publications

References 43 publications

Bayesian modelling of lung cancer risk and bitumen fume exposure adjusted for unmeasured confounding by smoking

Bayesian modelling of lung cancer risk and bitumen fume exposure adjusted for unmeasured confounding by smoking

Hypothesis-based weight-of-evidence evaluation and risk assessment for naphthalene carcinogenesis

Primary and Secondary Emissions of VOCs and PAHs in Indoor Air from a Waterproof Coal-Tar Membrane: Diagnosis and Remediation

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