Cancer Risk following Residential Exposure to Airborne Polychlorinated Biphenyls:A Danish Register-Based Cohort Study

BACKGROUND: Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are biopersistent chemicals classified as human carcinogens. This classification is primarily based on evidence on higher-chlorinated PCBs found in food. The carcinogenic potential of airborne lower-chlorinated PCBs remains largely unexplored. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to investigate cancer risk following residential exposure to airborne PCBs. METHODS: Cancer risk was examined in the Health Effects of PCBs in Indoor Air (HESPAIR) cohort of 38,613 residents of two partly PCB-contaminated residential areas in Greater Copenhagen, identified by nationwide registries. PCB exposure was based on relocation dates and indoor air PCB measurements in subsets of apartments. Cancer diagnoses were extracted from the Danish Cancer Registry for the follow-up period of 1970–2018. We estimated adjusted hazard ratios with time-varying cumulative exposure and a 10-y lag using Cox regression. RESULTS: Overall risk of cancer was not associated with [Formula: see text] , [hazard ratio (HR) for high-exposed vs. low-exposed [Formula: see text]; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.88, 1.09], but residents exposed to [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text] had higher risk of liver cancer (HR [Formula: see text]; 95% CI: 1.28, 6.15) and meningiomas (HR [Formula: see text]; 95% CI: 1.84, 6.64), with indications of exposure–response relationships. Results were suggestive of a higher risk of pancreatic cancer (HR [Formula: see text]; 95% CI: 0.95, 2.64) at the highest aggregated PCB level. For testis cancer, a higher risk was observed among residents exposed to [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text] relative to residents exposed to [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text] (HR [Formula: see text]; 95% CI: 1.41, 6.28), but the risk was not higher for residents exposed to [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text]. Apart from this, the risk of specific cancers was similar across exposure groups. DISCUSSION: In this, to our knowledge, first population-based cohort study of residential exposure to airborne PCBs, we found no association between exposure to PCBs in indoor air in private homes and the risk for most of the specific cancers. Higher risk of liver cancer and meningiomas were observed. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP1060

Historical Asbestos Measurements in Denmark-A National Database.

Objectives: Due to the long lag-time for health outcomes, historical asbestos exposure measurements are valuable to support assessments of associated occupational health effects, and also to assess time trends and effects of preventive measures. Methods: Different sources of stored data were collated, assessed and refined to create a harmonized database on historical asbestos fibre concentrations measured in specific work tasks and different industries. The final database contains 9236 asbestos measurements from Danish workplaces collected from 1971 to 1997. Results: The geometric mean of asbestos concentrations in different occupations and tasks ranged from 0.003 to 35 fibres cm(−3). Highest concentrations were registered during handling of asbestos products in the construction services during the period 1981–1997. Although all the measured asbestos exposures without the use of respiratory equipment by the worker in the period of 1971–1997 exceeded the current 8-h time-weighted average exposure limit of 0.1 fibres cm(−3), the majority of samples collected in the earlier period of 1971 to 1980 did not exceed the exposure limit of 2 fibres cm(−3), which was in place at the time. All exposure data obtained from 1980 and onwards were found to be one seventh of the mean fibre concentrations in the previous measurement period. The impact of time shows a clear exponentially decreasing trend-line. Conclusions: Despite limitations in coverage of different occupations and tasks associated with the inventoried historical asbestos measurements, the data are helpful to identify specific work scenarios within an industry, where relatively high asbestos exposure levels may still occur or have occurred from 1971 to 1997

Outbreak of eczema and rhinitis in a group of office workers in Greenland.

Disturbed indoor climate may in some cases be associated with illness. In the present paper, we report the results from a thorough investigation of office workers in Greenland, who developed skin and/or airway problems after moving into renewed offices