Risk of bladder cancer in male Japanese workers exposed to ortho-toluidine and other aromatic amines.
Int Arch Occup Environ Health 2021;
94:1427-1439. [PMID:
33651159 DOI:
10.1007/s00420-021-01658-2]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2020] [Accepted: 01/30/2021] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE
Nine bladder cancer (BCa) cases were reported among aromatic amine-exposed male workers at a factory manufacturing organic dye/pigment intermediates in Japan. We aimed to evaluate the characteristics of aromatic amine-exposed workers by cross-sectional observation, and the risk of BCa by assessing the standardized incidence ratio (SIR).
METHODS
In the cross-sectional study, our subjects were: 9 BCa patients, 36 aromatic amine-exposed non-patients, and 79 non-exposed workers from 3 factories. We evaluated the subjects' medical history, urinalysis, qualitative determination of nuclear matrix protein 22, and urinary cytology. For SIR assessment, 98 aromatic amine-exposed workers from 1 factory were included, and the Japanese general male population was used as a referent population. Since no direct aromatic amine-exposure data were available, we calculated surrogate exposure levels using information on job sites, exposure potency, and duration.
RESULTS
Coexistent aromatic amines were ortho-toluidine (OT), aniline, para-toluidine, ortho-anisidine, 2,4-xylidine, and ortho-chloroaniline. The prevalence rates of cystitis and bladder lesion-related symptoms in both BCa patients and aromatic amine-exposed non-patient workers were significantly higher than those of non-exposed workers. Overall, the SIR for BCa in OT-exposed workers was 56.8 (95% CI 27.7-104.3) and apparent dose-response relationships were revealed between the SIR and the surrogate exposure level in the 0-10-year lagged analyses. Overall, SIRs in other aromatic amine-exposed workers were also significantly high but no or unclear dose-response relationships were observed.
CONCLUSIONS
We conclude that OT may be responsible for the increased risk of BCa. Regular monitoring of bladder lesion-related symptoms is essential for the early identification of BCa.
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