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. 2008 Dec;116(12):1661-5.
doi: 10.1289/ehp.11515. Epub 2008 Jul 23.

Respiratory cancer and inhaled inorganic arsenic in copper smelters workers: a linear relationship with cumulative exposure that increases with concentration

Jay H Lubin  1 , Lee E Moore, Joseph F Fraumeni Jr, Kenneth P Cantor
Affiliations

Respiratory cancer and inhaled inorganic arsenic in copper smelters workers: a linear relationship with cumulative exposure that increases with concentration

Jay H Lubin et al. Environ Health Perspect. 2008 Dec.

Abstract

Background: Inhalation of high levels of airborne inorganic arsenic is a recognized cause of respiratory cancer. Although multiple epidemiologic studies have demonstrated this association, there have been few analyses of the mathematical relationship between cumulative arsenic exposure and risk of respiratory cancer, and no assessment as to whether and how arsenic concentration may modify this association.

Objectives: The objective is an evaluation of the shape of the relationship between respiratory cancer mortality and cumulative inhaled arsenic exposure among copper smelter workers, and the modification of that relationship by arsenic concentration.

Methods: We used Poisson regression methods to analyze data from a cohort of arsenic-exposed copper smelter workers under a linear-exponential model for the excess relative risk.

Results: Within categories of arsenic concentration, the association between respiratory cancer and cumulative arsenic exposure was consistent with linearity. The slope of the linear relationship with cumulative exposure increased with increasing arsenic concentration category.

Conclusions: Our results suggested a direct concentration effect from inhaled inorganic arsenic, whereby the excess relative risk for a fixed cumulative exposure was greater when delivered at a higher concentration and shorter duration than when delivered at a lower concentration and longer duration.

Keywords: arsenic; dose; lung neoplasms; occupational diseases; response relationship.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
RRs of respiratory cancer mortality by categories of cumulative arsenic exposure (mg/m3-years) and arsenic concentration (mg/m3) relative to U.S. mortality rates for white males, adjusted to nonexposed workers, and fitted linear ERR models for cumulative arsenic exposure: 0.29 mg/m3 (A), 0.30–0.39 mg/m3 (B), 0.40–0.49 mg/m3 (C), and ≥0.50 mg/m3 (D). Estimates of the ERR per mg/m3-year and 95% CIs for the four concentration categories were as follows: A, 0.016 (–0.005 to 0.041); B, 0.067 (0.024 to 0.119); C, 0.077 (0.017 to 0.159); D, 0.072 (0.043 to 0.107).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Estimates of ERR per mg/m3-year based on a linear RR model within six categories of arsenic concentration (square symbols), fitted model 2 (solid line), its pointwise, two-sided, Wald 95% CI (dashed lines), and model 2 omitting variation with concentration (dotted line; ERR/mg/m3/year = 0.04756).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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