• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• v.8 no.1
• /
• pp.29-35
• /
• 2017

Background: Despite our knowledge of the causes of cancer, millions of workers are involuntarily exposed to a wide range of known and suspected carcinogens in the workplace. To address this issue from a policy perspective, we developed a policy framework based on a prospective health policy analysis. Use of the framework was demonstrated for developing policies to prevent cancers associated with diesel engine exhaust (DEE), asbestos, and shift work, three occupational carcinogens with global reach and large cancer impact. Methods: An environmental scan of existing prospective health policy analyses was conducted to select and describe our framework parameters. These parameters were augmented by considerations unique to occupational cancer. Policy-related resources, predominantly from Canada, were used to demonstrate how the framework can be applied to cancers associated with DEE, asbestos, and shift work. Results: The parameters of the framework were: problem statement, context, jurisdictional evidence, primary prevention policy options, and key policy players and their attributes. Applying the framework to the three selected carcinogens illustrated multiple avenues for primary prevention, including establishing an occupational exposure limit for DEE, banning asbestos, and improving shift schedules. The framework emphasized the need for leadership by employers and government. Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first proposal for a comprehensive policy framework dedicated to the primary prevention of occupational cancer. The framework can be adapted and applied by key policy players in Canada and other countries as a guide of what parameters to consider when developing policies to protect workers' health.

• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• v.4 no.4
• /
• pp.216-220
• /
• 2013

A 46-year-old man who had worked as a bumper spray painter in an automobile body shop for 15 years developed lung cancer. The patient was a nonsmoker with no family history of lung cancer. To determine whether the cancer was related to his work environment, we assessed the level of exposure to carcinogens during spray painting, sanding, and heat treatment. The results showed that spray painting with yellow paint increased the concentration of hexavalent chromium in the air to as much as $118.33{\mu}g/m^3$. Analysis of the paint bulk materials showed that hexavalent chromium was mostly found in the form of lead chromate. Interestingly, strontium chromate was also detected, and the concentration of strontium chromate increased in line with the brightness of the yellow color. Some paints contained about 1% crystalline silica in the form of quartz.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.11-19
• /
• 2013

Backgrounds: Occupations are grouped on the basis of similarity in tasks and duties performed. Standard occupational classification (SOC) is a tool for organizing all professions into a clearly defined set of groups according to the tasks and duties undertaken in the respective jobs. Objectives: The major objective of this study is to comprehensively review how a SOC system is used in occupational and safety fields such as surveillance, exposure monitoring, occupational epidemiological study, management of carcinogens and analysis of occupational accidents. Methods: We summarized the cases, policies and regulations used in SOC systems in advanced countries and as they appear in articles Results: We found that SOC systems have been widely used in various areas of occupational safety and health in the US, the UK, Finland, and the EU. In general, it is highly common to use SOC in the analysis of occupational accidents and diseases and to identify factors causing those accidents. The SOC system is also used not only for surveillance of exposure to hazardous agents and occupational health, but to manage carcinogens. In order to adjust the effects of a particular job, SOC is used in the general population health area. The Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) has never used or introduced an SOC system. There have been no cases of the application of a SOC system to either the occupational safety and health field or to health surveillance for the general population in Korea. Conclusions: We suggested a need to introduce an SOC system in several occupational safety and health activities, such as work environment measurement, analysis of occupational accidents, specific physical examination and surveillance systems, etc.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• /
• v.31 no.4
• /
• pp.510-520
• /
• 2021

Objective: This paper aimed to provide estimates the burden of cancer attributable to occupational exposures in South Korea and to review the processes of estimating the population attributable fraction(PAF). Methods: The PAFs of occupational cancer were reviewed from previous studies. The number and proportion of cancer cases attributable to occupational carcinogens were estimated by multiplying the PAFs by recent Korean cancer data(up to 2016 for incidence and 2017 for death) obtained from the Statistics Korea. The estimation of PAFs included occupational exposures defined as definite or probable human carcinogens by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Results: In South Korea, an estimated 10,769 new cancer cases(9,017 among men, 1,752 among women) in 2016, and 7,030 cases of death from cancer(6,047 in men, 983 in women) in 2017, were attributable to occupational exposures, representing 1.5-4.7% of all new cancer cases(2.1-7.5% and 0.3-1.6% among men and women, respectively) and 2.7-8.9% of all cancer death cases(3.4-12.4% and 0.5-3.3% among men and women, respectively). Among men and women, lung cancer was the most impactful. The estimation process of PAFs, however, has a variety of uncertainties. Conclusions: Occupational exposures contribute to a substantial burden of cancer in South Korea. PAFs for cancer provide useful information for prevention initiatives and prioritizing health policies for workers. However, PAFs need to be interpreted cautiously and updated regularly.

• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• v.11 no.4
• /
• pp.509-516
• /
• 2020

Background: Meta-analyses have shown firefighters to be at an increased risk of several cancer types. Occupational carcinogen exposure may explain these increased risks. This study aims to describe Norwegian fire departments' work conditions from 1950 until today, focusing on factors relevant for potential occupational carcinogen exposure. Methods: With the help of a reference group, we developed a questionnaire on topics related to occupational exposure to carcinogens for the period 1950-2018. Selected Norwegian fire departments provided department-specific responses. Results: Sixteen departments, providing fire services for 48% of the Norwegian population as of 2019 and mainly consisting of professional firefighters, responded to our questionnaire. The introduction of synthetic firefighting foams, more regular live fire training, the introduction of chemical diving, and a higher number of diesel-driven fire service vehicles were identified as changes thought to increase exposure to occupational carcinogens. Changes thought to decrease exposure included the switch from negative to positive pressure self-contained breathing apparatuses, the use of self-contained breathing apparatuses during all phases of firefighting, the use of ventilating fans during firefighting, increased attention to flammable materials used during live fire training, increased attention to handling and cleaning of turnout gear and other equipment, and installment of exhaust removal systems in apparatus bays. Conclusion: Norwegian fire departments' work conditions have seen several changes since 1950, and this could influence firefighters' occupational carcinogen exposure. A peak of carcinogen exposure may have occurred in the 1970s and 1980s before recent changes have reduced exposure.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
• /
• v.12 no.3
• /
• pp.107-119
• /
• 2010

The aim of this study was to compare the carcinogen classification systems of developed countries or global organizations with domestic system under Industrial Safety and Health Act (ISHA). We selected the representative institutions which had carcinogen classification system such as International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), National Toxicological Program (NTP), Environmental Protection Agency (US-EPA), American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH), and European Union (EU). We collected the carcinogen lists issued by 5 institutions, and merged by CAS number of each chemical with Microsoft Access 7.0. We found that confirmed human carcinogens, probable human carcinogens and possible human carcinogens were 34, 179, and 252, respectively. All of the institutions classified chemicals as 2 (NTP), 3 (EU) or 5 (IARC, ACGIH, US-EPA) categories based on the weight of scientific evidences for carcinogenicity and periodically updated the carcinogen list by regular procedure. However, a total of 90 chemicals could be classified as carcinogen under ISHA in Korea. There was no procedure or system which periodically update the carcinogen lists. In addition, the status of carcinogen classification according to regulation was confused. In conclusion, these findings suggest that the carcinogen classification and management system should be amended by consideration of systems of advanced institutions and the domestic regulation system.

• Environmental Mutagens and Carcinogens
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.57-62
• /
• 2001

Bacterial reverse mutation assays were performed for 20 workplace chemicals in Korea, which were selected among workplace chemicals under the Korea Industrial Safety and Health Act (KISHA) with the occupational exposure levels (OELs). The assays were carried out by using the pre-incubation method ($37 ^{\circ}C$, 20 min) with and without metabolic activation using Salmonella typhimurium TA98, TA100, TA1535, TA1537 and E. coli WP2uvrA. The chemicals were tested at 5 concentrations both in the preliminary and the second assays. Despite the cell toxicities, there were no chemical-induced mutagenicities with or without metabolic activation in any of 20 chemicals.

• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• v.1 no.2
• /
• pp.134-139
• /
• 2010

Objectives: The lung cancer mortality in Korea has increased remarkably during the last 20 years, and has been the first leading cause of cancer-related deaths since 2000. The aim of the current study was to examine the time trends of occupational lung cancer and carcinogens exposure during the period 2006-2009 in South Korea, by assessing the proportion of occupational burden. Methods: We defined occupational lung cancer for surveillance, and developed a reporting protocol and reporting website for the surveillance of occupational lung cancer. The study patients were chosen from 9 participating university hospitals in the following 7 areas: Seoul, Incheon, Wonju, Daejeon, Daegu, Busan, and Gwangju. Results: The combined proportion of definite and probable occupational lung cancer among all lung cancers investigated in this study was 10.0%, 8.6%, 10.7%, and 15.8% in the years 2006 to 2009, respectively, with an average of 11.7% over the four-year study period. The main carcinogens were asbestos, crystalline silica, radon, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), diesel exhaust particles, chromium, and nickel. Conclusion: We estimated that about 11.7% of the incident lung cancer was preventable. This reveals the potential to considerably reduce lung cancer by intervention in occupational fields.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.36 no.1
• /
• pp.1-13
• /
• 2010

Evidences supporting gene-environment interaction are accumulating in terms of environmental exposure including lifestyle factors and related genetic variants. One form of defense mechanism against cancer development involves a series of genes whose role is to metabolize (activation/detoxification) and excrete potentially toxic compounds and to repair subtle mistakes in DNA. The purpose of this article is to provide a brief review of the notion of gene-environment interaction, environmental/occupational carcinogens and related cancers, and previous studies of gene-environment interaction on cancers caused by exposure to carcinogenesis. With a number of studies on the interaction between lifestyle factors (e.g., smoking and diet) and genetic polymorphisms in genes involved in xenobiotic metabolism and DNA repair excluded, only several studies have been conducted on the interactive effects between polymorphisms of CYPs, GSTs, ERCCs, XRCCs and environmental/occupational carcinogens such as vinyl chloride, benzo[a]pyrene, and chloroform on carcinogenesis or genotoxicity. Future studies may need to be conducted with sufficient number of subjects and based on occupational cohorts to provide useful information in terms of advanced risk assessment and regulation of exposure level.

• Toxicological Research
• /
• v.6 no.1
• /
• pp.63-73
• /
• 1990

Human exposure to environmental carcinogens can be detected by a number of methods including immunoassay, $^{32}P-postlabeling$ assay, and fluorescence technique. These assays have been applied to measure biological markers of carcinogen-adducts formed with macromolecules such as DNA, RNA and protein. In an attempt to investigate causal relationships between carcinogen exposure and tumor formation, specific carcinogen-adducts have been quantitated from human tissues and body fluids of cancer patients, occupational workers heavily exposed to certain carcinogens, smokers and controls. Carcinogens studied for biological human monitoring include benzo(a)pyrene, aflatoxin B1, UV light, ethylene oxide, 8-methoxypsoralen, 4-aminobiphenyl, vinyl choride, N-nitrosamine, cisplatin and other chemotherapeutic agents. Relevance of human monitoring for cancer research, progress in this field, methods to detect carcinogen-adducts are reviewed here. It is hoped that these approaches will be used for the risk assessment of carcinogen exposure, cancer etiology study and cancer prevention in humans.