Cancer and work sector: an analytical epidemiological study in Italy

<bold>Background:</bold> health archive data often lack information on work activity and potential confounders. Analytical epidemiological studies allow to overcome this limit. <bold>Aim:</bold> to assess the association between work sectors and cancer in an Italian general population sample, within the BEST project (INAIL, ID 56/2022). <bold>Methods:</bold> 2122 workers/ex-workers living in Pisa/Cascina (Tuscany) were investigated. They filled in a questionnaire on respiratory health status, work sectors and risk factors. Data on cancer hospitalization were available for 1997-2011. Subjects who had worked for at least 3 months in a work sector with risk for respiratory diseases were classified as exposed (controls: subjects not working in that risk sector). The association between cancer and work sectors was assessed by multinomial logistic regression analyses unadjusted and adjusted for sex, age, education, smoking habit, passive smoking, alcohol consumption, type of fuel for cooking/heating, pollution sources near home, area of residence (urban/suburban). <bold>Results:</bold> the percentage of workers in at risk sectors was: agriculture/milling 11.8%, mining/stone 7.7%, foundry/welding 2.6%, textile/grinding 7.5%, wood 6.8%, mechanical 10.0%, chemical/paints 4.5%, footwear 3.8%. Regression analyses showed associations between: mining industry and lung/pleural cancer (OR 2.64, 95% CI 1.23-5.66), bladder cancer (OR 2.31, 95% CI 0.94-5.70); mechanical industry and lung/pleural cancer (OR 2.39, 95% CI 1.10-5.19), malignant skin cancer (OR 2.59, 95% CI 1.19-5.63). <bold>Conclusions:</bold> a larger cancer probability has been highlighted in workers in the mining and mechanical industries, also taking into account lifestyles, indoor and outdoor exposure.