Occupational cancer

Occupational cancer is cancer caused by occupational hazards. Several cancers have been directly tied to occupational hazards, including chimney sweeps' carcinoma, mesothelioma, and others.

Common occupational hazards implicated in cancer

Occupational exposure to chemicals, dusts, radiation, and certain industrial processes have been tied to occupational cancer.

Chemicals: Exposure to cancer-causing chemicals, also called Carcinogens, may cause mutations that allow cells to grow out of control, causing cancer. Carcinogens in the workplace may include chemicals like anilines, chromates, dinitrotoluenes, arsenic and inorganic arsenic compounds, beryllium and beryllium compounds, cadmium compounds, nickel compounds

Dusts: leather or wood dusts, asbestos, crystalline forms of silica, coal tar pitch volatiles, coke oven emissions, diesel exhaust and environmental tobacco smoke

Radiation: sunlight; radon gas; industrial, medical, or other exposure to ionizing radiation

Industrial Processes: aluminum production; iron and steel founding; underground mining with exposure to uranium or radon

Other factors that play a role in cancer include:

• Personal characteristics such as age, sex, and race
• Family history of cancer
• Diet and personal habits such as cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption
• The presence of certain medical conditions or past medical treatments, including chemotherapy, radiation treatment, or some immune-system suppressing drugs.
• Exposure to cancer-causing agents in the environment (for example, sunlight, radon gas, air pollution, and infectious agents)

Occupational cancers

Common cancers and their exposures and occupations include:

Cancer	Source	Examples of Occupations
Bladder	Benzidine, beta-naphthylamine, 4-aminobiphenyl, arsenic	Rubber, leather, paving, roofing, printing and textile industries; paint/ dyeing products; chimney sweeping; machinists; hairdressers and barbers; truck drivers
Kidney	Cadmium, trichloroethylene, herbicides, wood dust	Painting; metalworking; petroleum, plastics, and textile industries
Larynx	Asbestos, wood dust, paint fumes	Metal working; petroleum, rubber, plastics, and textile industries
Leukemia	Formaldehyde, benzene, ethylene oxide, pesticides	Rubber manufacturing; oil refining; shoemaking
Liver	Arsenic, vinyl chloride, aflatoxins	Plastic manufacturing
Lung	Radon, secondhand smoke, asbestos, arsenic, cadmium, chromium compounds, diesel exhaust, sulfur mustard	Rubber manufacturing, paving, roofing, painting, chimney sweeping, iron and steel foundry work, welding
Lymphoma	Benzene, 1, 3-butadiene, ethylene oxide, herbicides, insecticides	Rubber manufacturing, painting, hairdresser or barber
Mesothelioma	Asbestos	Mining, railroad, automotive, plumbing, painting and construction industries; factory workers
Nasal cavity and sinus	Mustard gas, nickel dust, chromium dust, leather dust, wood dust, radium	Textile and baking industry, flour milling, nickel refining, furniture and cabinet builders, shoemaking
Skin	Arsenic, coal tars, paraffin, certain oils, sunlight	Chimney sweeping; outside jobs that involve a lot of sun exposure

Epidemiology

An estimated 48,000 cancers are diagnosed yearly in the US that come from occupational causes; this represents approximately 4-10% of total cancer in the United States. It is estimated that 19% of cancers globally are attributed to environmental exposures (including work-related exposures).

Prevention

Many occupational cancers are preventable. Personal protective gear, workplace controls, and worker education can prevent exposure to carcinogens in the workplace. Tobacco smoking has also been shown to increase the risk of work-related cancers.

Agencies like the US Food and Drug Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration have developed safety standards and limits for chemical and radiation exposure.