Carcinogens in the News

NPR – Tens of millions of Americans experienced at least a day last year shrouded in wildfire smoke. Entire cities were blanketed, in some cases for weeks, as unprecedented wildfires tore across the Western U.S., causing increases in hospitalizations for respiratory emergencies and concerns about people’s longer-term health. A new study finds those concerns are well founded. Researchers say that the tiny particles released in wildfire smoke are up to 10 times more harmful to humans than particles released from other sources, such as car exhaust.
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BMC Women’s Health – This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to update the current evidence regarding the relationship between night-shift work duration and breast cancer risk. Based on the overall evaluation of 26 eligible articles, in the short-term night-shift workers, the risk of breast cancer was increased (RR = 1.13, 95% CI: 1.03–1.24), but the increase did not observe in the long-term night-shift workers (RR = 1.08, 95% CI 0.99–1.17). The researchers suggest further studies with adequate information and exact definition regarding night shift work and its duration.
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Annals of Work Exposures and Health​ – The widespread application of additive manufacturing (AM) technologies, commonly known as three-dimensional (3D) printing, have raised concerns regarding the possible health implications. This review evaluates available data concerning exposure assessment in workplaces and possible effects of 3D printing emissions on humans. The literature demonstrated that a significant fraction of the particles released during 3D printing could be in the ultrafine size range, and increased levels of metals and volatile organic compounds could be detected during AM operations.
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Journal of Oncology Pharmacy Practice – A cross-sectional antineoplastic monitoring program is conducted once a year with voluntary Canadian hospital centers, since 2010. Twelve standardized sampling sites were sampled in 109 hospital centers between January 31 and June 18, 2020. Cyclophosphamide and gemcitabine were the drugs most frequently quantified on the surfaces. The armrest of patient treatment chairs, the front grille inside the biological safety cabinet (BSC) and the floor in front of the BSC were frequently contaminated. This large-scale study showed reproducible long term follow up of the contamination of standardized sites of Canadian centers and a reduction in surface contamination from 2010 to 2020.
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Molecular Oncology – In this study, researchers illustrate how common occupational exposures are and discuss challenges in estimating their global prevalence and their contribution to the burden of occupational cancer. The population attributable fraction for lung cancer due to occupational exposure has been estimated to be between 18 and 25% in men and 2–6% in women, resulting in lung cancer being the most prevalent occupational cancer. Actions to reduce exposures and research to fill gaps in knowledge adapted to local settings are warranted to mitigate the occupational cancer burden, especially in under-researched settings including low and middle income countries.
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World Health Organization – More countries than ever before are protecting health from radon exposure, but many still need to take action to mitigate the impacts of this carcinogenic radioactive gas, according to a new WHO survey. So far, a total of 56 countries – over a quarter of all WHO Member States – responded to the WHO radon survey. The vast majority have set national reference levels for homes and workplaces, 44 per cent have developed national radon action plans, and 39 per cent have included it in codes for new buildings. Globally, in 2019, residential radon exposure alone was estimated to have caused 84,000 deaths by lung cancer; in some countries, it is among the leading causes of lung cancer.
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Lung Association, Saskatchewan – The Provincial Government’s Home Renovation Tax Credit allows home owners to claim a tax credit of eligible home renovation expenses. The eligible expenses include the cost of labour, professional services, and the building materials required for radon reduction measures. “In a year when we are spending so much time at home, our government is proud to be able to assist Saskatchewan residents in keeping their homes safe,” said Paul Merriman, Minister of Health.
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National Observer – Many rural residents’ health is at significant risk due to high levels of airborne pollutants from wood-burning stoves, both indoors and out, said Michael Mehta, who specializes in environmental and health risk issues. “People in the rural parts of Canada should have some of the cleanest air in the country,” said Mehta. “But, actually, some have polluted air that is considerably worse than any city, and wood stoves are the main contributor.” Wood smoke contains carbon monoxide, volatile gases, and cancer-causing chemical compounds, but it is the fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, that is of particular concern to human health.
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CTV News – Wildfires have taken over from industry as a major source of a group of cancer-causing chemical toxins in the air, Environment Canada says. The first national assessment of polycyclic aromatic compounds in more than 25 years has found that air has improved around aluminum and steel plants. But wildfires and vehicles have stepped in to keep average concentrations at about the same level that they were in the 1990s, says federal researcher Elisabeth Galarneau.
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Preventive Medicine – The relationship between racial disparities in occupational risk and lung cancer diagnosis is not well defined. This study examined occupational exposure to asbestos, silica, and other workplace chemicals, fumes, or dusts as reported in the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST). The NLST data showed racial disparities of lung cancer development.
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The Georgia Straight – Just over half or 54 percent of Canadian households reported that they had heard of radon. This was revealed in a households and environment survey from 2019 by Statistics Canada. The poll results indicated that awareness about radon is rising from the 49 percent level in 2017.
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Occupational Cancer Research Centre – The Occupational Cancer Research Centre (OCRC) has partnered with the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) to develop an interactive website to communicate results from the Occupational Disease Surveillance System (ODSS) and other data sources on occupational disease in Ontario. Results are currently available for the construction, healthcare, metal manufacturing, mining, and transportation sectors.
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Financial Post – Evict Radon, a Canadian non-profit organization and team of university scholars dedicated to solving Canada’s large and worsening radon-gas exposure problem, has launched a new survey to understand the global pandemic’s impact on residential radon exposure. The study was developed by Evict Radon researchers Drs. Cheryl Peters and Aaron Goodarzi, and is Canada’s largest COVID-related analyses of shifting radon exposure.
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Environment International – The aim of this study was to address the relationship between long-term low-level air pollution (PM_2.5) exposure and lung cancer incidence. The results show that exposure to PM_2.5 was associated with higher risk of lung cancer. Long-term ambient PM_2.5exposure at the residential address may contribute to lung cancer incidence even at concentrations lower than current EU limit values (25 µg/m³) and possibly WHO Air Quality Guidelines (10 µg/m³).
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TVO – New research suggests that older adults and women are getting mesothelioma in increasing numbers. “The really high asbestos exposures that people got in workplaces are becoming less common,” says Paul Demers, director of the Occupational Cancer Research Centre at Ontario Health. “But lower exposures from asbestos that’s in buildings where people are living in — that’s gradually escaping into the environment — will become more important over time.”
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