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Estimated number of cancers attributable to occupational exposures in France in 2017: an update using a new method for improved estimates

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 33, pages 125–131 (2023)Cite this article

Abstract

Background

Over the last 50 years, occupational exposure to carcinogenic agents has been widely regulated in France.

Objective

Report population-attributable fraction (PAF) and number of attributable cancer cases linked to occupational exposure in France based on an updated method to estimate lifetime occupational exposure prevalence.

Methods

Population-level prevalence of lifetime exposure to ten carcinogenic agents (asbestos, benzene, chromium VI, diesel engine exhaust, formaldehyde, nickel compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, silica dust, trichloroethylene, wood dust) and two occupational circumstances (painters and rubber industry workers) were estimated using the French Census linked with MATGÉNÉ job-exposure matrices and French occupational surveys. PAF and number of attributable cancer cases were calculated using the estimated prevalence, relative risks from systematic review and national estimates of cancer incidence in 2017.

Results

The lifetime occupational exposure prevalences were much higher in men than in women ranging from 0.2% (workers in the rubber industry) to 10.2% in men (silica), and from 0.10% (benzene, PAH and workers in the rubber industry) to 5.7% in women (formaldehyde). In total, 4,818 cancer cases (men: 4,223; women: 595) were attributable to the ten studied carcinogens and two occupational circumstances, representing 5.2% of cases among the studied cancer sites (M: 7.0%; W: 1.9%). In both sexes, mesothelioma (M: 689 cases; W: 160) and lung cancer (M: 3,032; W: 308) were the largest cancer sites impacted by the studied occupational agents and circumstances.

Significance

A moderate proportion of the cancer cases in France is linked to carcinogens in occupational settings. Our method provides more precise estimates of attributable cancer taking into account evolution of exposure to occupational agents by sex, age and time. This methodology can be easily replicated using cross-sectional occupational data to aid priority making and implementation of prevention strategies in the workplace.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the team of the CONSTANCES study (Marcel Goldberg, Marie Zins and Stephen Goldberg) for sharing the individual data of the study. We wish to acknowledge, the French Ministry of Labour and the French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies for sharing SUMER survey and Census data, respectively.

Funding

This study is funded by ANSES contract number EST/2017/1/141.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Agency for Research on Cancer, Cancer Surveillance Branch, Lyon, France

    Claire Marant Micallef, Hadrien Charvat, Jérôme Vignat, Adèle Paul & Isabelle Soerjomataram

  2. Santé publique France, The French National Public Health Agency, Saint-Maurice, France

    Marie-Tülin Houot & Mounia El Yamani

  3. International Agency for Research on Cancer, Section of Evidence Synthesis and Classification, Monographs group, Lyon, France

    Kurt Straif

  4. Santé publique France, The French National Public Health Agency, Lyon, France

    Corinne Pilorget

Authors
  1. Claire Marant Micallef
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  2. Hadrien Charvat
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  3. Marie-Tülin Houot
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  4. Jérôme Vignat
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  8. Corinne Pilorget
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marie-Tülin Houot.

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Where authors are identified as personnel of the International Agency for Research on Cancer/World Health Organization, the authors alone are responsible for the views expressed in this article and they do not necessarily represent the decisions, policy or views of the International Agency for Research on Cancer/World Health Organization.

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Marant Micallef, C., Charvat, H., Houot, MT. et al. Estimated number of cancers attributable to occupational exposures in France in 2017: an update using a new method for improved estimates. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 33, 125–131 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41370-021-00353-1

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