Mortality and cancer incidence in perfluorooctanesulfonyl fluoride production workers

Bruce H. Alexander, Andrew Ryan, Timothy R. Church, Hyun Kim, Geary W. Olsen, Perry W. Logan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: Exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) has been associated with several health outcomes, though few occupationally-exposed populations have been studied. We evaluated mortality and cancer incidence in a cohort of perfluorooctanesulfonyl fluoride-based specialty chemical manufacturing workers. Methods: The cohort included any employee who ever worked at the facility from 1961 to 2010 (N = 4045), with a primary interest in those who had 365 cumulative days of employment (N = 2659). Vital status and mortality records were obtained through 2014 and the cohort was linked to state cancer registries to obtain incident cancer cases from 1995 to 2014. Cumulative exposure was derived from a comprehensive exposure reconstruction that estimated job-specific perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS)-equivalents (mg/m3) exposure. Overall and exposure-specific standardized mortality ratios (SMR) were estimated in reference to the US population. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for cumulative PFOS-equivalent exposure (log2 transformed) were estimated within the cohort for specific causes of death and incident cancers using a time-dependent Cox model. Results: Death rates were lower than expected except for cerebrovascular disease (SMR = 2.42, 95% CI = 1.25–4.22) and bladder cancer (SMR = 3.91, 95% CI = 1.07–10.02) in the highest exposure quartile. Within the cohort, the incidence of bladder, colorectal, and pancreatic cancer were positively associated with exposure, however except for lung cancer (HR = 1.05, 95% CI = 1.00–1.11) the CIs did not exclude an HR of 1. Conclusions: This study provides some evidence that occupational exposure to PFOS is associated with bladder and lung cancers and with cerebrovascular disease.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)321-333
Number of pages13
JournalAmerican Journal of Industrial Medicine
Volume67
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Authors. American Journal of Industrial Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.

Keywords

  • PFAS
  • PFOS
  • cancer incidence
  • mortality
  • per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances
  • perfluorooctanesulfonate

PubMed: MeSH publication types

  • Journal Article

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