Exposure to MMVF in residential and commercial buildings: A literature review and quantitative synthesis.

Man-made vitreous fibers (MMVF) are a class of inorganic fibrous materials that include glass and mineral wools, continuous glass filaments, and refractory ceramic fibers valued for their insulative properties in high temperature applications. Potential health effects from occupational exposure to MMVF have been investigated since the 1970s, with focus on incidence of respiratory tract cancer among MMVF-exposed production workers. The general population may experience exposure to MMVF in residential and/or commercial buildings due to deterioration, construction, or other disruption of materials containing these fibers.

A reevaluation of selected mortality risks in the updated NCI/NIOSH acrylonitrile cohort study.

Objectives: The study aimed to determine whether the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) recent suggestion of associations between acrylonitrile (AN) exposure and mortality in lung and bladder cancer and pneumonitis is robust to alternative methods of data analysis.

Materials And Methods: We used the Richardson method to indirectly adjust risk ratios (RRs) in relation to AN exposure for potential confounding by smoking and asbestos. We repeated key analyses omitting workers from Plant 4 to account for possible local, historical shipyard-related asbestos exposures.

Updated Italian cohort data continues to confirm lack of mesothelioma risk in pooled cohort of international cosmetic talc miners and millers.

Objectives: To assess potential mesothelioma risk following inhalation of cosmetic talc, we updated previous iterations of a pooled cohort analysis, post-study statistical power analysis, and confidence interval function analysis for a pooled cohort of international cosmetic talc miners/millers given new Italian cohort data.

Methods: Five cohorts of cosmetic talc miners/millers were pooled. Expected numbers of mesotheliomas for each cohort were reported by the original authors.

A quantitative weight of evidence assessment of Hill's guidelines for causal inference for cosmetic talc as a cause of mesothelioma.

Cosmetic talc has been suggested to cause mesothelioma. To assess a potential causal relationship between cosmetic talc and mesothelioma, a quantitative weight of evidence analysis was performed in accordance with Hill's nine original guidelines for causal inference using a published empirical model to weight each respective guideline. Various epidemiological, toxicological, and exposure studies related to cosmetic talc and risk of mesothelioma were included in an evaluation of each of Hill's guidelines.

An Ecological Evaluation of Vinyl Chloride Exposure and Liver Cancer Incidence and Mortality in Texas.

The goal of this analysis was to evaluate the association between county-level ambient vinyl chloride (VC) and county-level liver cancer incidence and mortality rates in Texas. Modeled county-level ambient VC data were obtained from the National Air Toxics Assessment. Age-adjusted county-level liver cancer incidence rates were abstracted from the Texas Cancer Registry and age-standardized county-level liver cancer mortality rates were obtained from the peer-reviewed literature.

Mortality Patterns Among Industrial Workers Exposed to Chloroprene and Other Substances: Extended Follow-Up.

Objectives: To update the U.S. portion of an historical cohort mortality study of workers with potential exposure to chloroprene (CD) and vinyl chloride (VC) with focus on lung and liver cancer.

Absence of mesothelioma risk maintained in an expanded international cohort of cosmetic talc miners and millers.

Based on novel information for the Vermont cosmetic talc miner/miller cohort, including a reported case of mesothelioma, we sought to update our prior pooled statistical power analyses of mesothelioma incidence among European cosmetic talc miners/millers. With the inclusion of the Vermont cohort, we expanded our pooled analysis by 17,170 person-years of observation. Cosmetic talc miner/miller cohort studies conducted in Italy, Norway, France, Austria, and Vermont were pooled.

Confidence interval function analysis to evaluate the risk of mesothelioma among an expanded international cohort of cosmetic talc miners and millers.

We used pooled data from international cosmetic talc miner/miller cohorts to determine whether hypothesized increased mesothelioma risks are consistent with the observed data. We evaluated the confidence interval function for the observed pooled mesothelioma SMRs (observed = 1; expected = 3.17, 3.

Occupational exposures to cosmetic talc and risk of mesothelioma: an updated pooled cohort and statistical power analysis with consideration of latency period.

We previously published a pooled statistical power analysis of mesothelioma incidence in the Italian, Norwegian, Austrian, and French cosmetic talc miner and miller cohorts. Soon thereafter, updates to the Italian and Norwegian cohorts were published, providing an additional 14,322 person-years of observation. In this study, we provide an updated power analysis using the newly available information.

Ethylene oxide and risk of lympho-hematopoietic cancer and breast cancer: a systematic literature review and meta-analysis.

Purpose: To conduct a systematic literature review and meta-analysis of studies of lympho-hematopoietic cancers (LHC) and breast cancer risk among persons occupationally exposed to ethylene oxide (EO).

Methods: We performed a literature search for articles available in PubMed and Web of Science databases to identify literature and subsequently systematically searched the reference lists of identified studies, published review papers and meta-analyses, as well as relevant government or regulatory documents. We qualitatively reviewed 30 studies and conducted meta-analyses on 13 studies.

Considerations for refining the risk assessment process for formaldehyde: Results from an interdisciplinary workshop.

Anticipating the need to evaluate and integrate scientific evidence to inform new risk assessments or to update existing risk assessments, the Formaldehyde Panel of the American Chemistry Council (ACC), in collaboration with the University of North Carolina, convened a workshop: "Understanding Potential Human Health Cancer Risk - From Data Integration to Risk Evaluation" in October 2017. Twenty-four (24) invited-experts participated with expertise in epidemiology, toxicology, science integration and risk evaluation. Including members of the organizing committee, there were 29 participants.

New insights into the mortality risk from nasopharyngeal cancer in the national cancer institute formaldehyde worker cohort study.

Background: Indications were found that a diagnostic bias could have contributed to the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) suggestion of a persistent increased mortality risk for nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC).

Methods: NCI provided the cohort data updated through 2004. We computed local county rate-based standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) for NPC and all other entities of the pharynx for two time periods.

Mortality among United States aerospace materials manufacturing workers.

Objectives: To evaluate long-term mortality rates among aerospace material manufacturing workers as follow-up to an earlier observed excess of nephritis/nephrosis.

Methods: Subjects were 2020 workers ever employed in the facility during 1963-2014. Vital status through 2014 was determined for all subjects and cause of death for 99.

Improvement in racial disparities in years of life lost in the USA since 1990.

Objective: To examine changes in cause-specific Years of Life Lost (YLL) by age, race, and sex group in the USA from 1990 to 2014.

Methods: 60 million death reports from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) were categorized by age group, sex, race, and cause of death. YLL were calculated using age-specific life expectancies.

Asbestos Fiber Concentrations in the Lungs of Brake Repair Workers: An Updated Analysis Using Several Regression Methods to Handle Nondetectable Measurements.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to reanalyze an updated database of lung asbestos fiber levels for 21 brake repair workers who died of mesothelioma using robust maximum likelihood-based regression methods to address nondetectable measurements.

Methods: We applied bivariate normal regression to address the doubly left-censored situation where both the lung fiber concentration of noncommercial (TAA) and commercial amphiboles (AC) were subject to detection limits. For the single left-censored situation, we applied censored normal regression to study the relationship between duration of employment (DOE) and TAA.

Systemic inflammatory markers associated with cardiovascular disease and acute and chronic exposure to fine particulate matter air pollution (PM) among US NHANES adults with metabolic syndrome.

Background: There has been no investigation to date of adults with metabolic syndrome examining the association of short and long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM) air pollution with cardiovascular-disease related inflammatory marker (WBC and CRP) levels in a nationally representative sample. The goal of this study is to assess the susceptibility of adults with metabolic syndrome to PM exposure as suggested by increased cardiovascular-disease related inflammatory marker levels.

Methods: A cross sectional analysis of adult National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) participants (2000-2008) was carried out with linkage of CDC WONDER meteorological data and downscaler modeled USEPA air pollution data for census tracts in the continental United States.

Cancer Incidence Among Hardmetal Production Workers: The Swedish Cohort.

: The cancer incidence was determined for 3713 workers from three plants from 1958 to 2011. The exposure measures were ever/never exposed, duration, cumulative, and mean cobalt concentrations.The incidence of all malignant neoplasms was increased at one plant, but standardized incidence ratio (SIR) was 0.