Carcinogenicity of some metals evaluated by the IARC Monographs: A synopsis of the evaluations of arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, and antimony.

Metals represent a major area of concern due to their extensive industrial applications, environmental persistence, and well-documented adverse health effects. Notably, metals (and metalloids) such as arsenic, cadmium, beryllium, chromium, cobalt, lead, and nickel are known for their toxicity and carcinogenic potential, raising significant public health concerns. Human exposure to these metals occurs through different routes, posing both environmental and workplace hazards.

Worker studies and their interpretation.

A recent commentary on epidemiological studies of nuclear workers notes that these studies can provide radiation risk estimates that complement those derived from the study of Japanese atomic bomb survivors. The author asserts that the results from some nuclear worker studies are difficult to interpret due to the fact that ERR/Gy estimates vary across subcohorts, and subcohort-specific estimates are not always equal to estimates obtained in the overall study population. We discuss settings in which it is reasonable to expect that an estimate of association in a subcohort should be similar to an estimate obtained in the full cohort and settings in which a subcohort analysis may differ from the estimate obtained in a full cohort analysis.

Occupational health in the era of climate change and the green transition: a call for research.

Work and working conditions are fundamental social determinants of health. Climate change poses an urgent and growing threat to workers' health, through both direct exposure to environmental hazards and indirect exacerbation of social and health inequalities. Occupational health, which focusses on the promotion of mental and physical health and well-being of workers, is a key but often overlooked area in this context.

Updated cancer mortality among uranium miners on the Colorado Plateau: interactions of radon exposure with smoking and temporal factors.

Objectives: Understanding of long-term lung cancer risks from radon decay products (RDP) exposure derives largely from studies of uranium miners. We aimed to compare mortality for lung and other cancers to the general population, to estimate excess absolute rate (EAR) and excess relative rate (ERR) from RDP exposure, and to estimate the joint effects of RDP and cigarette smoking in extended follow-up of a cohort of 4137 male uranium miners from the US Colorado Plateau.

Methods: We extended mortality follow-up through 2016 and re-evaluated RDP exposure against original work history and mine records.

IARC Workshop on the Key Characteristics of Carcinogens: Assessment of End Points for Evaluating Mechanistic Evidence of Carcinogenic Hazards.

Background: The 10 key characteristics (KCs) of carcinogens form the basis of a framework to identify, organize, and evaluate mechanistic evidence relevant to carcinogenic hazard identification. The 10 KCs are related to mechanisms by which carcinogens cause cancer. The () programme has successfully applied the KCs framework for the mechanistic evaluation of different types of exposures, including chemicals, metals, and complex exposures, such as environmental, occupational, or dietary exposures.

Updated findings on temporal variation in radiation-effects on cancer mortality in an international cohort of nuclear workers (INWORKS).

The International Nuclear Workers Study (INWORKS) contributes knowledge on the dose-response association between predominantly low dose, low dose rate occupational exposures to penetrating forms of ionizing radiation and cause-specific mortality. By extending follow-up of 309,932 radiation workers from France (1968-2014), the United Kingdom (1955-2012), and the United States (1944-2016) we increased support for analyses of temporal variation in radiation-cancer mortality associations. Here, we examine whether age at exposure, time since exposure, or attained age separately modify associations between radiation and mortality from all solid cancers, solid cancers excluding lung cancer, lung cancer, and lymphohematopoietic cancers.

Five decades of occupational cancer epidemiology.

Objective: In this discussion paper, we provide a narrative review of past and present occupational cancer studies in the journal with a viewpoint towards future occupational cancer research.

Method: We reviewed all references in the journal that mentioned cancer according to relevance to etiology, cancer type, agent type, study design, and study population.

Results: The Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health has published over 300 manuscripts on occupational cancer over the 50 past years.

Leukaemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma mortality after low-level exposure to ionising radiation in nuclear workers (INWORKS): updated findings from an international cohort study.

Background: A major update to the International Nuclear Workers Study (INWORKS) was undertaken to strengthen understanding of associations between low-dose exposure to penetrating forms of ionising radiation and mortality. Here, we report on associations between radiation dose and mortality due to haematological malignancies.

Methods: We assembled a cohort of 309 932 radiation-monitored workers (269 487 [87%] males and 40 445 [13%] females) employed for at least 1 year by a nuclear facility in France (60 697 workers), the UK (147 872 workers), and the USA (101 363 workers).

Site-specific cancer mortality after low-level exposure to ionizing radiation: findings from an update of the International Nuclear Workers Study (INWORKS).

A major update to the International Nuclear Workers Study was undertaken that allows us to report updated estimates of associations between radiation and site-specific solid cancer mortality. A cohort of 309 932 nuclear workers employed in France, the United Kingdom, and the United States were monitored for external radiation exposure. Associations of radiation with cancer mortality were quantified as the excess relative rate (ERR) per gray (Gy) using a maximum likelihood and a Markov chain Monte Carlo method (to stabilize estimates via a hierarchical regression).

Critical reviews of exposure assessment in carcinogenic hazard identification: the IARC experience.

Objectives: To summarise the rationale, workflow and recommendations for the conduct of exposure assessment critiques in key human studies evaluated for International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) on the Identification of Carcinogenic Hazards.

Methods: Approaches to evaluating exposure assessment quality in human cancer and mechanistic studies were reviewed according to the precepts outlined in the IARC Preamble, using two agents as case studies. Exposure assessment 'domains', that is, salient aspects of exposure assessment for the agent under evaluation, were selected for review across the key human studies.

Global, regional and national burdens of non-melanoma skin cancer attributable to occupational exposure to solar ultraviolet radiation for 183 countries, 2000-2019: A systematic analysis from the WHO/ILO Joint Estimates of the Work-related Burden of Disease and Injury.

Background: A World Health Organization (WHO) and International Labour Organization (ILO) systematic review reported sufficient evidence for higher risk of non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) amongst people occupationally exposed to solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR). This article presents WHO/ILO Joint Estimates of global, regional, national and subnational occupational exposures to UVR for 195 countries/areas and the global, regional and national attributable burdens of NMSC for 183 countries, by sex and age group, for the years 2000, 2010 and 2019.

Methods: We calculated population-attributable fractions (PAFs) from estimates of the population occupationally exposed to UVR and the risk ratio for NMSC from the WHO/ILO systematic review.

Research Recommendations for Selected IARC-Classified Agents: Impact and Lessons Learned.

Background: The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) Monographs program assembles expert working groups who publish a critical review and evaluation of data on agents of interest. These comprehensive reviews provide a unique opportunity to identify research needs to address classification uncertainties. A multidisciplinary expert review and workshop held in 2009 identified research gaps and needs for 20 priority occupational chemicals, metals, dusts, and physical agents, with the goal of stimulating advances in epidemiological studies of cancer and carcinogen mechanisms.

Cancer mortality after low dose exposure to ionising radiation in workers in France, the United Kingdom, and the United States (INWORKS): cohort study.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of protracted low dose, low dose rate exposure to ionising radiation on the risk of cancer.

Design: Multinational cohort study.

Setting: Cohorts of workers in the nuclear industry in France, the UK, and the US included in a major update to the International Nuclear Workers Study (INWORKS).

Firefighting and Cancer: A Meta-analysis of Cohort Studies in the Context of Cancer Hazard Identification.

Objective: We performed a meta-analysis of epidemiological results for the association between occupational exposure as a firefighter and cancer as part of the broader evidence synthesis work of the program.

Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted to identify cohort studies of firefighters followed for cancer incidence and mortality. Studies were evaluated for the influence of key biases on results.

Ionizing radiation and solid cancer mortality among US nuclear facility workers.

Background: The risk of solid cancers from low-level protracted ionizing radiation is not well characterized. Nuclear workers provide valuable information on the effects of ionizing radiation in contemporary exposure scenarios relevant to workers and the public.

Methods: We evaluated the association between penetrating ionizing radiation exposure and solid cancer mortality among a pooled cohort of nuclear workers in the USA, with extended follow-up to examine cancers with long latencies.