[Epidemiologic studies on carcinogenic risk and occupational activities in tanning, leather and shoe industries]

Abstract

A review is made of the epidemiological studies of occupational cancer risks among tannery, leather and shoe industry workers. The risk of nasal cancer associated with exposure to leather dust, which had already been stressed at the beginning of the 1970's, was confirmed in recent studies. However, a decreasing trend of RR was observed among shoe industry workers. The excess of leukemia among shoe workers, which was mainly based on the description of numerous cases of acute myeloblastic leukemia, has also been confirmed by two cohort studies carried out in Italy and the U.K. In addition to the evident increase in these two diseases, there are indications of an excess of cancer of other sites among leather and shoe workers, particularly bladder cancer, both among workers assigned to leather finishing operations and in leather goods and shoe production workers. Another interesting result is the excess of lung cancer among tannery workers. This evidence is unanimous in the studies carried out in Italy but is not supported by the majority of studies performed in other countries. For this reason, we consider it extremely important to carry out a multicentric study in Italy, with particular attention to the definition of occupational exposures to carcinogens. There are also other isolated reports of excesses of other cancers in the shoe and leather industries but in our opinion they are of dubious interpretation.