Occupational exposure to solvents and risk of breast cancer

Glass, D. and Heyworth, J. and Thomson, A. and Peters, S. and Saunders, C. and Fritschi, L. 2015. Occupational exposure to solvents and risk of breast cancer. American Journal of Industrial Medicine. 58 (9): pp. 915-922.

Source Title

American Journal of Industrial Medicine

DOI

10.1002/ajim.22478

ISSN

0271-3586

School

School of Occupational Therapy and Social Work

Remarks

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Glass, D. and Heyworth, J. and Thomson, A. and Peters, S. and Saunders, C. and Fritschi, L. 2015. Occupational exposure to solvents and risk of breast cancer. American Journal of Industrial Medicine. 58 (9): pp. 915-922., which has been published in final form at http://doi.org/10.1002/ajim.22478. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving at http://olabout.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-820227.html#terms

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/22816

Collection

Curtin Research Publications

Abstract

Background: Occupational exposure to some organic solvents may increase risk of breast cancer. Methods: In a population-based case-control study, 1,205 women diagnosed with primary breast cancer between 2009 and 2011 were drawn from the Western Australian Cancer Registry and matched to 1,789 controls from the electoral roll. Exposure to solvents was determined through telephone interviews using OccIDEAS. Results: About a third of women were occupationally exposed to solvents. Age adjusted breast cancer risks were elevated for women who had been exposed to aliphatic solvents odds ratio (OR) 1.21 (95%CI 0.99-1.48) and aromatic solvents OR 1.21 (95%CI 0.97-1.52). For most solvents the ORs were higher for those diagnosed before menopause. Conclusions: This study suggests that there may be an association between occupational exposure to aliphatic and aromatic solvents and the risk of breast cancer at the low levels of exposure experienced by women in this study.