Cancer from work can be prevented
December 14th 2011 The British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS) has welcomed the publication of new research to benchmark the preventable causes of cancer in the UK, published in the British Journal of Cancer.
The results show that occupational exposure to dusts, chemicals and other workplace pollutants are important causes of cancer in the UK that up to now have not been effectively controlled. We note that occupational cancers are the third most important cause after smoking and diet/alcohol consumption; accounting for about 4% of all cancers – almost 12,000 cases each year.
The main causes have been recognized for many years: asbestos, crystalline silica dust, diesel exhaust and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) found in tars, soot and other similar materials. Activities and exposures associated with these four agents alone account for almost 6,000 occupational cancers each year. However, we also note that each year more than 2,000 cases of breast cancer in women are attributed to shift work that involves working at night or other unusual shift patterns that may disrupt the internal body clock.
All of these cancers could have been prevented through better recognition of the risks within occupations and BOHS believes that with appropriate focused efforts almost all occupational cancers could ultimately be prevented. This goal would take time to achieve because there is a very long lag between workers first being exposed to carcinogens and any disease being diagnosed, but if we do not act now then the present death toll will continue. BOHS calls on government, industry and workers representatives to work with us to plan to eliminate occupational cancer in the UK and drive down the toll inflicted on the working population.
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