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Ben Rayana T, Wild P, Debatisse A, Jouannique V, Sakthithasan K, Suarez G, Guseva Canu I. Job Exposure Matrix, a Solution for Retrospective Assessment of Particle Exposure in a Subway Network and Their Long-Term Effects. TOXICS 2023; 11:836. [PMID: 37888686 PMCID: PMC10610788 DOI: 10.3390/toxics11100836] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2023] [Revised: 09/26/2023] [Accepted: 09/29/2023] [Indexed: 10/28/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Health effects after long-term exposure to subway particulate matter (PM) remain unknown due to the lack of individual PM exposure data. This study aimed to apply the job exposure matrix (JEM) approach to retrospectively assess occupational exposure to PM in the Parisian subway. METHODS Job, the line and sector of the transport network, as well as calendar period were four JEM dimensions. For each combination of these dimensions, we generated statistical models to estimate the annual average PM10 concentration using data from an exhaustive inventory of the PM measurement campaigns conducted between 2004 and 2020 in the Parisian subway and historical data from the Parisian air pollution monitoring network. The resulting JEM and its exposure estimates were critically examined by experts using the uncertainty analysis framework. RESULTS The resulting JEM allows for the assignment of the estimated annual PM10 concentration to three types of professionals working in the subway: locomotive operators, station agents, and security guards. The estimates' precision and validity depend on the amount and quality of PM10 measurement data used in the job-, line-, and sector-specific models. Models using large amounts of personal exposure measurement data produced rather robust exposure estimates compared to models with lacunary data (i.e., in security guards). The analysis of uncertainty around the exposure estimates allows for the identification of the sources of uncertainty and parameters to be addressed in the future in order to refine and/or improve the JEM. CONCLUSIONS The JEM approach seems relevant for the retrospective exposure assessment of subway workers. When applied to available data on PM10, it allows for the estimation of this exposure in locomotive operators and station agents with an acceptable validity. Conversely, for security guards, the current estimates have insufficient validity to recommend their use in an epidemiological study. Therefore, the current JEM should be considered as a valid prototype, which shall be further improved using more robust measurements for some jobs. This JEM can also be further refined by considering additional exposure determinants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tesnim Ben Rayana
- Center for Primary Care and Public Health (Unisanté), University of Lausanne, 1066 Epalinges-Lausanne, Switzerland
- Autonomous Parisian Transportation Administration (RATP), 75012 Paris, France
| | - Pascal Wild
- Center for Primary Care and Public Health (Unisanté), University of Lausanne, 1066 Epalinges-Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Amélie Debatisse
- Autonomous Parisian Transportation Administration (RATP), 75012 Paris, France
| | - Valérie Jouannique
- Autonomous Parisian Transportation Administration (RATP), 75012 Paris, France
| | | | - Guillaume Suarez
- Center for Primary Care and Public Health (Unisanté), University of Lausanne, 1066 Epalinges-Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Irina Guseva Canu
- Center for Primary Care and Public Health (Unisanté), University of Lausanne, 1066 Epalinges-Lausanne, Switzerland
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Rathod AM, Verpaele S, Kelvin M, Sullivan KV, Leybourne MI. Uranium: an overview of physicochemical properties, exposure assessment methodologies, and health effects of environmental and occupational exposure. ENVIRONMENTAL GEOCHEMISTRY AND HEALTH 2023; 45:1183-1200. [PMID: 35711076 DOI: 10.1007/s10653-022-01293-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2021] [Accepted: 04/30/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Uranium is chemo- and radiotoxic element which can cause multifactorial health hazards. Natural and anthropogenic uranium contamination raises concerns about potential public health problems. Natural contamination plays a significant role with regard to uranium exposure in the general population, whereas anthropogenic contamination leads to occupational uranium exposure, particularly in nuclear industry workers. In this review, we present a state-of-the-art status concerning uranium-induced health risks with a focus on epidemiological findings of uranium processing and enrichment plant workers. We provide a general overview of physicochemical properties of uranium and analytical methods for measuring or monitoring uranium, describe environmental and occupational exposure scenarios, and discuss the challenges for objectively investigating risks from uranium exposure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abhisha M Rathod
- Department of Geoscience and Geological Engineering, Queen's University, 99 University Avenue, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada
- Arthur B. McDonald Canadian Astroparticle Physics Research Institute, Queen's University, 64 Bader Lane, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada
- Neuroscience and Mental Health Institute, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2S2, Canada
| | - Steven Verpaele
- Nickel Institute, Health and Environment Public Policy, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Michelle Kelvin
- Department of Geoscience and Geological Engineering, Queen's University, 99 University Avenue, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada
| | - Kaj V Sullivan
- Department of Geoscience and Geological Engineering, Queen's University, 99 University Avenue, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada
| | - Matthew I Leybourne
- Department of Geoscience and Geological Engineering, Queen's University, 99 University Avenue, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada.
- Arthur B. McDonald Canadian Astroparticle Physics Research Institute, Queen's University, 64 Bader Lane, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada.
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Davesne E, Laurent O, Lopez MA. How to assess internal doses for epidemiological studies and for emergency response? An overview of differences with routine operational radiation protection approach. RADIAT MEAS 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.radmeas.2018.04.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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Drinking Water Uranium and Potential Health Effects in the German Federal State of Bavaria. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2017; 14:ijerph14080927. [PMID: 28820453 PMCID: PMC5580629 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph14080927] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2017] [Revised: 07/28/2017] [Accepted: 08/12/2017] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Mainly due to its nephrotoxic and osteotoxic potential, uranium (U) increasingly finds itself in the spotlight of environmental and health-related research. Germany decided on a binding U guideline value in drinking water of 10 µg/L, valid since 2011. It is yet widely unknown if and how public health was affected by elevated U concentrations before that. In this ecological study we summarized available drinking water U data for the German federal state of Bavaria (703 analyses in total for 553 different municipalities) at county level (for 76 out of 96 Bavarian counties, representing about 83% of Bavaria's and about 13% of Germany's total population) in terms of mean and maximum U concentration. Bavaria is known to regionally exhibit mainly geogenically elevated groundwater U with a maximum value of 40 µg/L in the database used here. Public health data were obtained from federal statistical authorities at county resolution. These included incidence rates of diagnosed diseases suspected to be potentially associated with chronic U uptake, e.g., diseases of the skeleton, the liver or the thyroid as well as tumor and genito-urinary diseases. The datasets were analyzed for interrelations and mutual spatial occurrence using statistical approaches and GIS as well as odds ratios and relative risks calculations. Weak but significant positive associations between maximum U concentrations and aggregated ICD-10 diagnose groups for growths/tumors as well as liver diseases were observed, elevated incidence rates of thyroid diseases seem to occur where mean drinking water U concentrations exceed 2 µg/L. Here, we discuss obtained results and their implications for potential impacts of hydrochemistry on public health in southeast Germany.
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Zhivin S, Guseva Canu I, Samson E, Laurent O, Grellier J, Collomb P, Zablotska LB, Laurier D. Mortality (1968–2008) in a French cohort of uranium enrichment workers potentially exposed to rapidly soluble uranium compounds. Occup Environ Med 2015; 73:167-74. [DOI: 10.1136/oemed-2015-103142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2015] [Accepted: 10/28/2015] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
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Zhivin S, Laurier D, Guseva Canu I. Health effects of occupational exposure to uranium: do physicochemical properties matter? Int J Radiat Biol 2015; 90:1104-13. [PMID: 25014993 DOI: 10.3109/09553002.2014.943849] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE Physicochemical properties of uranium, including isotopic composition and solubility, are determinants of its toxicity. We reviewed epidemiological studies in civilian and military workers known to be exposed to uranium with different physicochemical properties to investigate its long-term effects, such as cancerous and circulatory diseases. MATERIALS AND METHODS We systematically searched the Pubmed and the Scopus databases to identify studies of uranium- processing workers (published between 1980 and 2013) and veterans of the wars in the Persian Gulf and the Balkans (published between 1991 and 2013) in which defined outcomes, such as lung, lymphohematopoietic, kidney cancers, and circulatory diseases were examined. RESULTS from these studies in terms of risk of each health outcome (mortality or incidence) and analyses of dose-response relationship were examined to present the impact of uranium physicochemical properties on the observed results. RESULTS Twenty-seven articles were reviewed. There is some evidence for increased lung cancer risk among uranium-processing workers. The evidence is less strong for lymphohematopoietic cancer. We found that most of the studies insufficiently assessed the physicochemical properties of uranium and some of them used proxies for the exposure assessment and risk estimation analyses. Studies of veterans of the wars in the Persian Gulf and the Balkans are uninformative in respect to internal uranium exposure. CONCLUSIONS Existing epidemiological data on the physicochemical properties of uranium and associated health outcomes are inconclusive. Further studies among certain groups of uranium-processing workers (uranium-enrichment and fuel-fabrication workers) could contribute to our knowledge of the health effects of uranium with respect to its physicochemical properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sergey Zhivin
- Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire, IRSN/PRP-HOM/SRBE/LEPID , BP 17, 92262 Fontenay-aux-Roses , France
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Guseva Canu I, Zhivin S, Garsi JP, Caër-Lorho S, Samson E, Collomb P, Acker A, Laurier D. Effets de la contamination chronique à l’uranium sur la mortalité : bilan d’une étude-pilote chez les travailleurs de l’industrie nucléaire en France. Rev Epidemiol Sante Publique 2014; 62:339-50. [DOI: 10.1016/j.respe.2014.09.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2013] [Revised: 09/02/2014] [Accepted: 09/19/2014] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
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Zhivin S, Laurier D, Caër-Lorho S, Acker A, Guseva Canu I. Impact of chemical exposure on cancer mortality in a French cohort of uranium processing workers. Am J Ind Med 2013; 56:1262-71. [PMID: 24009194 DOI: 10.1002/ajim.22231] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/02/2013] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Nuclear workers may be exposed to a variety of chemical hazards, in addition to radiation. We examined the effect of chemical exposures on cancer mortality among French uranium processing workers at the AREVA NC Pierrelatte facility. METHODS A cohort of 2,897 uranium processing workers employed for at least 6 months was followed from 1968 through 2006. Exposure to uranium and potentially carcinogenic chemicals was assessed with a plant-specific job-exposure matrix. Mortality hazard ratios (HRs) for cancers of the lung, lymphohematopoietic system, kidney and bladder, brain and central nervous system (BCNS), and prostate were estimated for each specific chemical exposure, with Cox regression models stratified for sex and calendar period and adjusted for socioeconomic status. Additional adjustments enabled us to examine the effect of co-exposure to uranium and other chemicals. RESULTS Exposure to aromatic solvents was associated with increased risk of BCNS malignancies after adjustment for other chemicals (HR=6.53, 95% CI=1.14-37.41; n=6) and for other chemicals and uranium (HR=7.26, 95% CI=0.90-58.19) in the annual exposure status model. Selected groups of lymphohematopoietic cancers were found associated with solvent exposure. Inconclusive results were found regarding chromium (VI) exposure, since only 2 workers died from lung cancer among 109 exposed. CONCLUSION Based on our pilot study, it seemed important to take into account chemical exposures in the analyses of cancer mortality among French uranium processing workers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sergey Zhivin
- Laboratoire d'Epidémioloeie; Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN); Fontenay-aux-Roses; France
| | - Dominique Laurier
- Laboratoire d'Epidémioloeie; Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN); Fontenay-aux-Roses; France
| | - Sylvaine Caër-Lorho
- Laboratoire d'Epidémioloeie; Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN); Fontenay-aux-Roses; France
| | - Alain Acker
- AREVA Group; Medical Coordination Section; Paris; France
| | - Irina Guseva Canu
- Laboratoire d'Epidémioloeie; Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN); Fontenay-aux-Roses; France
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Guseva Canu I, Faust S, Knieczak E, Carles M, Samson E, Laurier D. Estimating historic exposures at the European Gaseous Diffusion plants. Int J Hyg Environ Health 2013; 216:499-507. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2012.07.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2012] [Revised: 07/05/2012] [Accepted: 07/17/2012] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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Metz-Flamant C, Samson E, Caër-Lorho S, Acker A, Laurier D. Leukemia risk associated with chronic external exposure to ionizing radiation in a French cohort of nuclear workers. Radiat Res 2012; 178:489-98. [PMID: 23050984 DOI: 10.1667/rr2822.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Leukemia is one of the earliest cancer effects observed after acute exposure to relatively high doses of ionizing radiation. Leukemia mortality after external exposure at low doses and low-dose rates has been investigated at the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) and Nuclear Fuel Company (AREVA NC) after an additional follow-up of 10 years. The cohort included radiation-monitored workers employed for at least one year during 1950-1994 at CEA or AREVA NC and followed during 1968-2004. Association between external exposure and leukemia mortality was estimated with excess relative risk (ERR) models and time-dependent modifying factors were investigated with time windows. The cohort included 36,769 workers, followed for an average of 28 years, among whom 73 leukemia deaths occurred. Among the workers with a positive recorded dose, the mean cumulative external dose was 21.7 mSv. Results under a 2-year lag assumption suggested that the risk of leukemia (except chronic lymphatic leukemia) increased significantly by 8% per 10 mSv. The magnitude of the association for myeloid leukemia was larger. The higher ERR/Sv for doses received 2-14 years earlier suggest that time since exposure modifies the effect. The ERR/Sv also appeared higher for doses received at exposure rates ≥20 mSv per year. These results are consistent with those found in other studies of nuclear workers. However, confidence intervals are still wide. Further analyses should be conducted in pooled cohorts of nuclear workers.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Metz-Flamant
- Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), DRPH/SRBE/LEPID, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France
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Anderson JL, Daniels RD, Fleming DA, Tseng CY. Exposure assessment for a cohort of workers at a former uranium processing facility. JOURNAL OF EXPOSURE SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENTAL EPIDEMIOLOGY 2012; 22:324-330. [PMID: 22534696 DOI: 10.1038/jes.2012.20] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2011] [Accepted: 02/06/2012] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
Exposure was assessed for a cohort of 6409 workers at a former uranium processing facility as part of a mortality study. Workers at the facility had potential for exposure to a wide variety of radiological and chemical agents including uranium, thorium, radon, external ionizing radiation, acid mists, asbestos, and various solvents. Organ dose from internal exposure to uranium was assessed, along with dose from external ionizing radiation and exposure to radon. Qualitative assessment of exposure to thorium, acid mists, asbestos, coal dust, welding fumes, and other chemicals was also performed. Mean cumulative organ dose from internal uranium exposure ranged from 1.1 mGy (lung) to 6.7 μGy (pancreas). Mean cumulative external ionizing radiation dose was 13.4 mGy. Mean cumulative radon exposure was 26 working level months (WLMs). The chemical agents to which the largest numbers of study subjects were exposed were acid mists, machining fluids, and a tributyl phosphate/kerosene mixture used in the refining process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeri L Anderson
- Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations and Field Studies (DSHEFS), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Cincinnati, OH, USA.
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Uranium carcinogenicity in humans might depend on the physical and chemical nature of uranium and its isotopic composition: results from pilot epidemiological study of French nuclear workers. Cancer Causes Control 2011; 22:1563-73. [DOI: 10.1007/s10552-011-9833-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2010] [Accepted: 08/13/2011] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
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