Lung Cancer Mortality Trends in a Brazilian City with a Long History of Asbestos Consumption

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health Vol. 16; no. 14; p. 2548
• Main Authors: Fernandes, Gisele Aparecida, Algranti, Eduardo, Conceição, Gleice Margarete de Souza, Wünsch Filho, Victor, Toporcov, Tatiana Natasha
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 17.07.2019; MDPI
• Subjects: Age groups; Aged; Air pollution; Air pollution measurements; Asbestos; Asbestos - toxicity; Brazil - epidemiology; Carcinogenic agents; Carcinogens; Carcinogens - toxicity; Cement; Chrysotile; Confidence intervals; Consumption; Developing Countries - statistics & numerical data; Economic factors; Epidemiology; Expected values; Female; Health risks; Humans; Incidence; Ionizing radiation; Lung; Lung cancer; Lung Neoplasms - chemically induced; Lung Neoplasms - mortality; Male; Middle Aged; Mortality; Mortality - trends; Occupational exposure; Outdoor air quality; Population; Smoking; Social factors; Tobacco; Tobacco smoking; Tracheal Neoplasms - chemically induced; Tracheal Neoplasms - mortality; Trends; Womens health; Workplaces; Brazil; asbestos; lung neoplasms; mortality
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph16142548

There are scarce epidemiological studies on lung cancer mortality in areas exposed to asbestos in developing countries. We compared the rates and trends in mortality from lung cancer between 1980 and 2016 in a municipality that made extensive use of asbestos, Osasco, with rates from a referent municipality with lower asbestos exposure and with the rates for the State of São Paulo. We retrieved death records for cases of lung cancer (ICD-9 C162) (ICD-10 C33 C34) from 1980 to 2016 in adults aged 60 years and older. The join point regression and age-period-cohort models were fitted to the data. Among men, there was an increasing trend in lung cancer mortality in Osasco of 0.7% (CI: 0.1; 1.3) in contrast to a mean annual decrease for Sorocaba of -1.5% (CI: -2.4; -0.6) and a stable average trend for São Paulo of -0.1 (IC: -0.3; 0.1). Similar increasing trends were seen in women. The age-period-cohort model showed an increase in the risk of death from 1996 in Osasco and a reduction for Sorocaba and São Paulo State during the same period. Our results point to a need for a special monitoring regarding lung cancer incidence and mortality in areas with higher asbestos exposure.