Occupation and cancer - European Trade Union Institute (ETUI)

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/ 100 000
350
300
250
200
150
Men
100
Denmark
Finland
50
Iceland
Norway
0
Sweden
1945 1960 1975 1990 2005
In women, tobacco manufacture workers had the
highest SIR (1.27, 1.19 1.35); all other significant
SIRs were below 1.15 (Table 81). The rates were
lowest among female seafarers (0.58, 0.37 0.87)
and bricklayers. From the more common occupations
among the women, farming and gardening
were associated with the lowest rates.
Comment. The group of all cancer combined includes
numerous cancer diseases with different aetiologies.
The relative large variation in occupation-specific
incidence rates indicates that risk-increasing factors
may cumulate in some occupational categories.
Among occupations with the highest SIRs in men
were occupations such as waiters, beverage workers
and tobacco workers that have also been seen at the
top of the list of SIRs for alcohol and tobacco related
cancers. On the other hand, there were also many
occupations with known or strongly suspected direct
occupational exposures such as chimney sweeps,
plumbers, hairdressers and printers. At the bottom
of the list there are occupations related to farming
and forestry which have a low exposure to industrial
agents.
In women, the top of the list is more mixed. There
were industrial occupations with relatively high
SIRs, e.g., tobacco workers, printers and plumbers,
but many occupations in administration and technical
work also showed high SIRs. The collection of
occupations with a low overall cancer risk is also
quite a mixture, with a likely under representation
of occupations with a high degree of education.
All of the lowest-risk occupations among the women
are ‘‘male occupations’’ with quite heavy physical
demands.
/ 100 000
350
300
250
200
150
Occupation and cancer in Nordic countries 765
Women
100
Denmark
Finland
50
Iceland
Norway
0
Sweden
1945 1960 1975 1990 2005
Figure 49. Age standardised (World) incidence rates for all malignant neoplasms 1943 2005, by country and gender. Modified from
NORDCAN [49].
Discussion
Validity of census occupation
Correct classification of exposure categories is crucial
in any study on work-related cancer. In the
present study, the information on occupations was
based on national censuses from 1960 1990. The
current population register systems allow tabulation
of the entire population by sex, age, and several
other demographic variables and have therefore
diminished the incentive to undertake traditional
censuses. Unfortunately, the detailed information on
occupation and industry for each citizen may be
difficult to obtain from registers with similar precision
as they were collected from census questionnaires.
We have therefore restricted the present study
to the census populations for whom high quality data
on occupation are available.
Denmark became the first country in the world to
abolish traditional censuses. In the first registerbased
census in Denmark from 1981 the information
on occupation came primarily from tax-forms,
and 5% of the work force ended up being registered
only as wage-earners without further information
[2]. The Danish part of the present study is therefore
based solely on the 1970 census. Finland was
the second country to skip traditional censuses, but
according to internal quality controls by Statistics
Finland a sufficiently high quality of the occupational
information was ensured when the transition
took place in 1990. The present study therefore
includes data from the 1970, the 1980, and the 1990
censuses in Finland. Iceland has a long census
tradition, but the only census available with computerised
data is from 1981. Sweden kept the traditional
censuses throughout the 20th century, and the
present study includes data from the 1960, 1970,