TY - JOUR
T1 - 0375 Mortality of a cohort of workers in Great Britain with blood lead measurements
AU - McElvenny, Damien
AU - Miller, Brian G.
AU - MacCalman, Laura
AU - Sleeuwenhoek, Anne
AU - van Tongeren, Martie
AU - Shepherd, Kevin
AU - Darnton, Andrew
AU - Cherrie, John
N1 - © 2014, Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.
PY - 2014/6
Y1 - 2014/6
N2 - OBJECTIVES: We report on the first ever analysis of a UK cohort of workers with blood lead level measurements that was assembled in the late 1970s.METHOD: As an alternative to mean and maximum blood lead levels, we carried out an exposure assessment that assigned workers to high, medium or low exposure to lead. We additionally assessed whether workers would be exposed to an important level of relevant co-carcinogens.RESULTS: 3466 deaths were observed among 7770 men and 1352 women. The SMRs for all causes (109, 95% CI 105-112) and all malignant neoplasms (113,107-120) were significantly raised. SMRs for oesophageal, stomach, bladder, brain and kidney cancer and non-malignant kidney disease were not raised, but were raised for lung cancer (142,129-157). The SMR for circulatory diseases (105,99-100) was of borderline significance. No trends were observed for mean or maximum blood lead level or assessed lead exposure for any of the cancers of a priori interest, but a significant association was found for circulatory diseases (ischaemic heart disease) with mean and maximum blood lead level.CONCLUSIONS: The excess of lung cancer is possibly to be due to tobacco smoking. This study provides strong evidence to support an association between increased lead exposure and increased risk of ischaemic heart disease mortality. The study is, however, limited by the lack of complete occupational histories for the included participants.
AB - OBJECTIVES: We report on the first ever analysis of a UK cohort of workers with blood lead level measurements that was assembled in the late 1970s.METHOD: As an alternative to mean and maximum blood lead levels, we carried out an exposure assessment that assigned workers to high, medium or low exposure to lead. We additionally assessed whether workers would be exposed to an important level of relevant co-carcinogens.RESULTS: 3466 deaths were observed among 7770 men and 1352 women. The SMRs for all causes (109, 95% CI 105-112) and all malignant neoplasms (113,107-120) were significantly raised. SMRs for oesophageal, stomach, bladder, brain and kidney cancer and non-malignant kidney disease were not raised, but were raised for lung cancer (142,129-157). The SMR for circulatory diseases (105,99-100) was of borderline significance. No trends were observed for mean or maximum blood lead level or assessed lead exposure for any of the cancers of a priori interest, but a significant association was found for circulatory diseases (ischaemic heart disease) with mean and maximum blood lead level.CONCLUSIONS: The excess of lung cancer is possibly to be due to tobacco smoking. This study provides strong evidence to support an association between increased lead exposure and increased risk of ischaemic heart disease mortality. The study is, however, limited by the lack of complete occupational histories for the included participants.
U2 - 10.1136/oemed-2014-102362.146
DO - 10.1136/oemed-2014-102362.146
M3 - Meeting abstract
C2 - 25018372
SN - 1351-0711
VL - 71
SP - A47
JO - Occupational and Environmental Medicine
JF - Occupational and Environmental Medicine
IS - Suppl 1
T2 - Challenges for Occupational Epidemiology in the 21st Century
Y2 - 24 June 2014 through 27 June 2014
ER -
