Occupational cancer among women: Where have we been and where are we going?

Abstract

Studies of occupational exposures have been a fruitful area of research for identifying carcinogens. Some of the early observations, such as increased risk of breast cancer among nuns and bone cancer among radium dial workers, were made among women. Recent research on cancer among women has shown increased risks of cancer in many industries and occupations. Estimates that 1% of cancer among women is attributable to occupation are based on research conducted mainly in the 1970s among men in developed countries. These studies do not reflect the dramatic changes in the participation of women in the workplace or the patterns of employment of women in developing countries. The proportion of women in the paid workforce, the amounts and types of unpaid labor, the distribution of women by economy sector, the scale of the workplaces, the allowable exposure levels in the workplace, and implementation of controls have changed over time and vary internationally. Occupational cancer researchers need to expand their focus on women, increase activities in developing countries, include newly created industries, use sophisticated exposure assessment methods, and, where appropriate, incorporate molecular epidemiologic techniques to discover new occupational carcinogens and to identify where better control measures are needed.

Probabilistic assessment of chlorpyrifos exposure to rice farmers in Viet Nam

“…28 The mean ADD A of farmers, who had higher secondary education (4.9 mg/kg/day), was significantly less than that of farmers who had secondary or lower education (25.4 mg/kg/day).…”

Environmental pollutants and breast cancer

“…17,18 Confounding by established breast cancer risk factors is a particular concern in occupational studies that compare workers to general populations. 19 Because workers in professional jobs, including physicians and nurses, are not comparable to general populations of women for reproductive and other socioeconomic risk factors, we excluded studies of these jobs if they failed to control for confounding or present evidence that the comparison group was similar for reproductive risk factors. 20 For included studies, we note possible sources of confounding in the tables summarizing articles we reviewed.…”

Environmental pollutants, diet, physical activity, body size, and breast cancer

“…For example, developing nations with more markedly different diets also differ in reproductive patterns, and occupationally exposed women with higher chemical exposures may also have higher levels of physical activity. 54,55 Even in undeveloped regions, unexposed populations are elusive: Efforts to investigate the effects of organochlorine compounds, including pesticides and PCBs, were thwarted by the discovery that global atmospheric and ocean transport resulted in substantial exposures even in the Arctic, where these compounds were not used. 56 In addition, effects of diet and environmental chemicals may be obscured if they interact with genetic variations or other environmental factors, or if they are limited to subtypes of breast cancer.…”