IARC 60th Anniversary - 19-21 May 2026
Session : 20/05/26 - Posters
Exposure to dust and fibres and risk of lung cancer in 25,000 offshore petroleum workers
BERGE L. 1,2, BABIGUMIRA R. 1,2, SHALA N. 2, MARJERRISON N. 1,2, NAFISI S. 2,3, GRIMSRUD T. 2, VEIERØD M. 1, STENEHJEM J. 1,2
1 Oslo Centre for Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Department of Biostatistics, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; 2 Department of Research, Cancer Registry of Norway, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway; 3 Norwegian Research Centre for Women’s Health, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
Background: Crystalline silica dust (CSD), asbestos, and other dusts and fibres are lung cancer carcinogens commonly found in the offshore working environment. Still, an exposure-response evaluation with high-quality exposure assessment and good confounder control, while taking competing risks into account, is lacking.
Objectives: To investigate the association between CSD, asbestos and refractory ceramic fibres (RCF) exposure, and lung cancer risk among offshore petroleum workers.
Methods: We conducted a case-cohort study on 475 lung cancer cases and 2015 non-cases (1999–2021) in the Norwegian Offshore Petroleum Workers cohort (employed 1965–1998), linked to the Cancer Registry of Norway (1953–2022). Exposures were assessed with industry-specific job exposure matrices. Cumulative incidence/absolute risk (AR) of lung cancer, and its subtypes, and all-cause death with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated, adjusted for age, smoking, dusts/fibres, welding fumes, and pre-offshore asbestos exposure by inverse probability of treatment weights, using multistate models for competing risks. We estimated cumulative incidence ratios (CIRs), comparing the highest cumulative level of each exposure to the unexposed.
Results: For CSD and asbestos exposure, we observed elevated ARs, and CIRs of 2.15 (95% CI: 1.29–3.56) and 2.89 (95% CI: 1.29–6.10), respectively. For CSD, increased CIRs were also found for squamous cell carcinoma (CIR=2.83, 95% CI: 1.05–6.03) and small cell lung cancer (CIR=2.95, 95% CI: 0.94–6.80). For asbestos, the CIR for death was elevated (CIR=2.60, 95% CI: 1.25–4.88), but not for CSD. No associations were found for RCF.
Conclusions: Accounting for competing risk of death, we found that high cumulative CSD and asbestos exposure may increase the absolute and relative risk of lung cancer in Norwegian offshore petroleum workers. We also found that the risk of death was related to asbestos exposure, indicating additional health risks for those highly exposed, but less so for CSD.