Risk of Selected Cancers due to Occupational Exposure to Chlorinated Solvents in a Case–Control Study in Montreal

• Published in: Journal of occupational and environmental medicine 2013-02, Vol.55 (2), p.198-208
• Main Authors: Christensen, Krista Yorita, Vizcaya, David, Richardson, Harriet, Lavoué, Jérôme, Aronson, Kristan, Siemiatycki, Jack
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Biological and medical sciences; Cancer; Case-Control Studies; Chemical and industrial products toxicology. Toxic occupational diseases; Chlorine; Confidence Intervals; Health risk assessment; Human exposure; Humans; Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated - adverse effects; Logistic Models; Male; Medical sciences; Melanoma - chemically induced; Melanoma - epidemiology; Middle Aged; Neoplasms - chemically induced; Neoplasms - epidemiology; Occupational Diseases - chemically induced; Occupational Diseases - epidemiology; Occupational Exposure - adverse effects; Occupational hazards; Odds Ratio; Original Article; Prostate cancer; Prostatic Neoplasms - chemically induced; Prostatic Neoplasms - epidemiology; Quebec - epidemiology; Solvents; Solvents - adverse effects; Tetrachloroethylene - adverse effects; Toxicology; Trichloroethylene - adverse effects
• ISSN: 1076-2752; 1536-5948
• DOI: 10.1097/JOM.0b013e3182728eab

OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the association between exposure to chlorinated solvents and cancer. METHODS:We conducted a case–control study of occupational exposures and cancer in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, including 3730 cancer cases and 533 population controls. Occupational exposures were derived using a combination of subject-reported job history and expert assessment. We examined the associations between two chemical families and six chlorinated solvents with 11 sites of cancer. RESULTS:The majority of the associations examined were null, although many were based on small numbers. We found two significantly elevated odds ratios (ORs), one between perchloroethylene and prostate cancer (OR = 4.3; 95% CI1.4 to 13) and another between trichloroethylene and melanoma (OR = 3.2; 95% CI1.0 to 9.9). CONCLUSIONS:There was little evidence of associations between chlorinated solvents and cancer. Limited power precludes strong inferences about absence of risk. We raise hypotheses about two possible associationsperchloroethylene with prostate cancer and trichloroethylene with melanoma.