O-59 Increased lung cancer risk and occupational benzene exposure: results from a pooled case-control study

• Published in: Occupational and environmental medicine (London, England) Vol. 80; no. Suppl 1; pp. A82 - A83
• Main Authors: Wan, Wenxin, Peters, Susan, Portengen, Lützen, Olsson, Ann, Schüz, Joachim, Straif, Kurt, Kromhout, Hans, Vlaanderen, Jelle, Vermeulen, Roel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 14.03.2023; BMJ Publishing Group LTD
• Subjects: Abstracts; Benzene; Carcinogens; Case studies; Environmental assessment; Environmental risk; Exposure; Health risks; Hydrocarbons; Lung cancer; Occupational exposure; Occupational health; Population studies; Regression analysis; Regression models; Risk assessment; Smoking
• ISSN: 1351-0711; 1470-7926
• DOI: 10.1136/OEM-2023-EPICOH.202

IntroductionBenzene is widely present in various industries and ubiquitously in the general environment. Benzene has been classified as a known human carcinogen, but there is limited evidence linking benzene exposure with lung cancer. However, if such an association exists, this could have large implications for occupational and environmental risk assessment. We aimed to systematically investigate the association between occupational benzene exposure and lung cancer.Material and MethodsSubjects from 14 case-control studies across Europe and Canada were pooled. We used a quantitative job-exposure matrix (BEN-JEM) to estimate benzene exposure based on occupation records. Logistic regression models were used to estimate lung cancer risk and various benzene exposure indices. We stratified analyses by smoking status and lung cancer subtypes, and rigorously adjusted for age, sex, smoking and other known occupational lung carcinogens.Results and ConclusionAnalyses included 28048 subjects (12329 cases, 15719 controls). Lung cancer odds ratios ranged from 1.12 (95% CI 1.03-1.22) to 1.32 (95% CI 1.18-1.48) for groups with the lowest and highest cumulative exposure, respectively. An increasing trend was observed with duration of exposure (P<0.001), while lung cancer risk decreased with increasing time since last exposure (P=0.02). These effects were seen for all lung cancer subtypes, in current, former and never smokers, and for both sexes, and were not unduly influenced by any particular occupational group or study. Based on our study in the general population, we found strong, consistent, and robust evidence linking occupational benzene exposure with lung cancer. By rigorously adjusting for smoking and other occupational exposures, our findings provide strong support for the association between benzene exposure and lung cancer. Such a link has a large implication for occupational and environmental risk assessment and reinforces the need to further reduce benzene exposure globally.