Occupational exposure to petroleum-based and oxygenated solvents and oral and oropharyngeal cancer risk in men A population-based case-control study in France

Christine Barul (1) , Matthieu Carton (2) , Loredana Radoï (3) , Gwenn Menvielle (4) , Corinne Pilorget (5) , Anne-Sophie Woronoff (6) , Isabelle Stücker (3) , Danièle Luce (1)

1 Irset - Institut de recherche en santé, environnement et travail
2 Institut Curie [Paris]
3 CESP - Centre de recherche en épidémiologie et santé des populations
4 iPLESP - Institut Pierre Louis d'Epidémiologie et de Santé Publique
5 UMRESTTE UMR T9405 - Unité Mixte de Recherche Epidémiologique et de Surveillance Transport Travail Environnement
6 CHRU Besançon - Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire de Besançon

Objective - To examine the association between occupational exposure to petroleum-based and oxygenated solvents and the risk of oral and oropharyngeal cancer.Methods - The ICARE study is a large population-based case-control study conducted in France between 2001 and 2007. This present analysis was restricted to men and included 350 and 543 cases of squamous cell-carcinoma of the oral cavity and oropharynx, respectively, and 2780 controls. Lifetime tobacco, alcohol consumption and complete occupational history were assessed through detailed questionnaires. Job-exposure matrices allowed us to assess occupational exposure to five petroleum-based solvents (white spirits; diesel/fuel oils/kerosene; gasoline; benzene; special petroleum products) and five oxygenated solvents (diethyl ether; tetrahydrofuran; ketones and esters; alcohols; ethylene glycol). Odds-ratios (ORs), adjusted for age, smoking, alcohol consumption and socioeconomic status, and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using unconditional logistic models.Results - Associations between oral cancer risk and exposure to white spirits and diesel/fuel oils/kerosene were suggested, but there was no exposure-response trend. Concerning exposure to oxygenated solvents, participants with the highest levels of cumulative exposure to diethyl ether had a significant excess risk of oropharyngeal cancer (OR = 7.78, 95%CI 1.42 to 42.59; p for trend = 0.04). Ever exposure to tetrahydrofuran was associated with a borderline significant increased risk of oral cancer (OR = 1.87, 95%CI 0.97 to 3.61), but no exposure-response trend was observed. Additional adjustments for exposure to other solvents did not substantially change the results.Conclusion - Our results do not provide evidence for a major role of petroleum-based and oxygenated solvents in the occurrence of oral and oropharyngeal cancers in men.

Mots clés: Case-control study; Epidemiology; Occupational health; Solvents; Tumor

Domaines: Santé publique et épidémiologie; Santé; Cancer

Christine Barul, Matthieu Carton, Loredana Radoï, Gwenn Menvielle, Corinne Pilorget, et al.. Occupational exposure to petroleum-based and oxygenated solvents and oral and oropharyngeal cancer risk in men A population-based case-control study in France. Cancer Epidemiology, 2019, 59, pp.22-28. ⟨10.1016/j.canep.2019.01.005⟩. ⟨hal-02020721⟩