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C Hogstedt

Publications and source records attributed to C Hogstedt.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Lung cancer risk among workers exposed to man-made mineral fibers (MMMF) in the Swedish prefabricated house industry.

Mortality and cancer incidence was investigated among 2,807 workers, employed for at least one year before 1972, at 11 Swedish companies manufacturing prefabricated wooden houses. A total of 1,068 workers had been exposed to man-made mineral fibers (MMMF) used for insulation. Mortality was followed from 1969 to 1988 and cancer incidence from 1969 to 1985. Exposure conditions were investigated at all plants. There were 14 deaths from lung cancer in the total cohort, whereas 20.7 would be expected (SMR = 68; 95% CI:37-113), based on regional mortality. After a latency of 20 years of more, two lung cancer cases had occurred among all workers exposed to MMMF, whereas 4.3 would be expected (SMR = 46; 95% CI: 5-168). The exposure levels that have prevailed do not seem to be associated with an increased lung cancer rate, but extended follow-up is necessary for a definitive evaluation.

Cohort Studies↗
PubMed1992

Radiographic osteoarthrosis in the acromioclavicular joint resulting from manual work or exposure to vibration.

The hypothesis that manual work and exposure to vibration are antecedents to the development of osteoarthrosis was assessed employing a cross sectional study design. The frequency of osteoarthrosis in the acromioclavicular joint was studied in three groups of workers in the construction industry. Two groups were manual workers (54 bricklayers and 55 rock blasters); the third group consisted of 98 foremen. The radiographic appearance of the right and left acromioclavicular joints was classified into one of five grades of osteoarthrosis. A protocol was developed to assess exposure on the basis of job title, years of manual work, total weight lifted during working life, and total hours of exposure to vibrating tools. Odds ratios for job titles (manual worker v foreman) and for years of manual work as indicators of exposure were of similar magnitude of around 2.5. Construction workers who had lifted more than 709 tonnes had an increased risk of developing severe osteoarthrosis of the right acromioclavicular joint, odds ratio: 2.62 (95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.13-6.06). The odds ratio for the left side was 7.67 (95% CI, 2.76-21.34). In the analysis of vibration exposure, workers who had been highly exposed to vibration had an odds ratio of 1.99 (95% CI, 1.00-3.92) on the right side and 2.20 (95% CI, 1.07-4.56) on the left. This effect almost disappeared after simultaneous adjustment for manual work. Occupational and ergonomic factors, such as the sum of lifted tonnes during working life, job title, and the sum of years of manual work seem to be risk factors for osteoarthrosis of the acromioclavicular joint, whereas vibration alone was a weaker risk factor.

Acromioclavicular Joint↗
PubMed1992

Does long-term concrete work cause silicosis?

The machining of cast concrete often produces heavy exposure to respirable silica dust. Work with concrete in general results in considerably less exposure, however, and only a few cases of silicosis due to work with concrete have been reported. Telephone interviews with detailed questions on occupational history were made with 271 construction workers specializing in concrete work for more than 20 years, and exposure data were evaluated for different work tasks. The mean cumulative exposure of subjects to silica was estimated to be 2.4 mg.years.m-3. Chest radiographs were classified according to the International Labour Office classification. There was no suspicion of silicosis for any of the workers. The risk of contracting silicosis from work with concrete in the Swedish construction industry in recent decades is considered to be slight and does not justify general, periodic chest radiographic screening.

Construction Materials↗
PubMed1992

Epidemiology of occupational neurobehavioural hazards. Methodological experiences from organic solvent research.

Neurobehavioral hazards have been identified since long in occupational health, e.g. lead, mercury, certain solvents, and many others agents. There are reviews and books on "Occupational neurology" or "Prevention of neurotoxic illness in working populations". Many methods have been applied for studies of the central and peripheral nervous systems in humans: registered diagnoses, questionnaire ratings, clinical evaluation, psychometric tests, neurophysiological and neuroradiological methods, cerebrospinal fluid components etc. Some neurological disorders are well defined, while neuropsychiatric syndromes often are less precisely diagnosed. Decreased subclinical test results in exposed groups might predict an increased risk for later, more serious disorders but the longitudinal information on clinical importance is often lacking. Some historical lessons from the epidemiology of occupational neurology will be repeated and a few reflections on the suitability of different diagnostic entities for epidemiological research shall be made. Since the beginning of the 1970s' a number of studies from the Scandinavian countries have demonstrated long-term neurobehavioral effects from working conditions with relatively moderate exposure to organic solvents. Similar findings have been verified in studies from some countries outside Scandinavia while other studies have been inconclusive. Those results have caused considerable controversy and have been discussed at international conferences and in scientific journals. Very different outcomes have been investigated in those solvent studies, however, and most studies have had a cross-sectional design with inherent problems. The exposure has been assessed in different ways, e.g. by years of occupation, hygienic measurements of the present working conditions, biological monitoring, retrospective assessments on qualitative or semi-quantitative scales. Sometimes single solvent exposures have been studied but most of the studies concern mixtures of solvents from aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons. As the designs have varied the exposure assessment has been crude and many different outcomes have been studied, it is hardly surprising that the results and the interpretations have differed. The first results from a comprehensive investigation on 135 solvent exposed painters and 71 carpenters as referents, selected from active members of the respective trade union 1965-70 and investigated in the late 80s, will be presented. Clinical, including psychiatric, diagnostic work up and neuropsychological as well as neurophysiological tests have been performed. Psychological test results from military conscripts at age 19 were available for all. The individual exposure history has been carefully assessed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Case-Control Studies↗
PubMed1991

Occupation and osteoarthrosis of the hip and knee: a register-based cohort study.

A register-based cohort study was performed to investigate if men and women in certain occupations with high physical workload had increased risks of developing severe symptomatic osteoarthrosis of the hip and knee, resulting in hospital care. The study population consisted of 250,217 people from the 1980 census, in blue-collar occupations, who had reported the same occupation in the 1960 and 1970 censuses. The study population was followed for hospital care for osteoarthrosis of the hip and knee during 1981-1983 by linkage to the Swedish Hospital Discharge Register. Different blue-collar occupations were classified as high or low with regard to exposure to forces acting on the hip and knee and the frequencies of the outcomes were compared. Male farmers, construction workers, firefighters and some food processing workers had an excess risk of hospitalization due to osteoarthrosis of the hip. Male farmers, construction workers and firefighters also had increased risks of osteoarthrosis of the knee. Female mail carriers had an excess risk of osteoarthrosis of the hip, and female cleaners, of osteoarthrosis of the knee. The findings support the hypothesis that heavy physical work load contributes to osteoarthrosis of the hip and knee.

Cohort Studies↗
PubMed1991

Coxarthrosis and physical work load.

A case-referent study was performed on the possible relationship between physical work loads and an increased risk of developing coxarthrosis. The cases were 239 male recipients of a hip prosthesis as a result of severe idiopathic coxarthrosis; the referents were 302 men randomly selected from the general population. The work load was assessed through an interview and a self-administered questionnaire on the men's specific work periods. Men highly exposed to dynamic or static work loads had an increased relative risk of 2.42 (95% confidence interval 1.45-4.04) for developing coxarthrosis when compared with men with low exposure. Men with high exposure to heavy lifting between the ages of 30 and 49 years had the highest relative risk, 3.31 (95% confidence interval 1.97-5.57). Long-time exposure to physical work loads seems to be a risk factor for severe coxarthrosis among men.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Increased risk of urothelial cancer in Stockholm during 1985-87 after exposure to benzene and exhausts.

In a population-based case-referent study of urothelial cancer in Stockholm during 1985-87, information was obtained from 80% of 320 identified male cases and 79% of 363 selected male referents. Industrial exposures were assessed for each subject by an industrial hygienist on the basis of questionnaire data. Exposure to benzene (any annual dose) gave a relative risk (with 95% confidence interval) of 2.0 (1.0-3.8). The highest risk was seen for a high annual dose. Subjects exposed to both diesel and petrol exhausts (moderate/high annual dose) had a relative risk of 7.1 (0.9-58.8). However, adjusting for benzene changed the relative risk to 5.1 (0.6-43.6). It might be rewarding to consider whether benzene from petrol confounds the associations previously suggested between exhausts and urothelial cancer. Exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) gave a relative risk of 3.3 (0.6-18.4).

Benzene↗
PubMed1990

Urothelial cancer and some industry-related chemicals: an evaluation of the epidemiologic literature.

In a previous cohort study by our group, certain industry-related chemicals were judged as warranting further attention as possible urothelial carcinogens. In this paper, the epidemiologic literature of cancer of the lower urinary tract is evaluated for these substances. We would like to add combustion gases/soot from coal to the substances considered as increasing the risk of urothelial cancer. It is, however, uncertain whether this risk is due to contaminants of aromatic amines in tar volatiles or whether it depends on other agents, such as nitroarenes or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Furthermore, we find some support for the hypothesis that exposure to chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons increases the risk of urothelial cancer. For creosote, cutting fluids and cutting oils, hair dyes, and polychlorinated biphenyls, data are scarce. Available data do not support the hypothesis that asbestos is associated with urothelial cancer. "Publication bias," such that only limited information was available, was judged to be a potential problem in the review for many, but not all, of the substances investigated.

Case-Control Studies↗
PubMed1990

Heavy lifting during pregnancy--a hazard to the fetus? A prospective study.

The influence of heavy lifting during pregnancy on gestational age, birthweight and the risk of fetal death (spontaneous abortion or stillbirth) was investigated in a prospective study of 3906 occupationally active women. Information on exposure was collected at the women's first contact with the antenatal care centres in Orebro County from October 1980 to June 1983. Logistic and linear regression were used to analyse the data, allowing for several non-occupational factors in the models. Women who reported heavy lifting did not have in general more unfavourable outcomes than other women, although the risk estimates varied between different occupational categories. Lifting of weights greater than or equal to 12 kg more than 50 times per week increased the risk of pre-term birth (less than 37 weeks of gestation--odds ratio 1.7), but only among women who stopped working before the 32nd week of pregnancy. Unfavourable outcomes were more common among those who reported chemical exposure during pregnancy. The preventive routines and regulations in Sweden may have helped to reduce possible risks from heavy lifting during pregnancy.

Abortion, Spontaneous↗
PubMed1990

Neuropsychiatric symptoms among welders exposed to neurotoxic metals.

Neuropsychiatric symptoms in 65 welders exposed to aluminium and 217 railroad track welders were studied with the aid of a previously validated questionnaire. Semiquantitative data on exposure to the metals aluminium, chromium, lead, manganese, and nickel were also recorded by questionnaire. Logistic regression was employed to study the relation between exposure and the prevalence of symptoms. Welders exposed to aluminium, lead, or manganese for a long period had significantly more neuropsychiatric symptoms than welders not exposed to these metals. The results indicate that detailed psychometric studies should be performed on welders exposed long term to specific metals as such exposures might affect their nervous system.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Lung cancer and exposure to diesel exhaust among bus garage workers.

Mortality and cancer incidence was investigated among the 695 bus garage workers employed as mechanics, servicemen, or hostlers for at least six months in five bus garages in Stockholm between 1945 and 1970. The exposure to diesel exhaust and asbestos was estimated by industrial hygienists. A small excess of lung cancer mortality was found in the cohort when occupationally active men in Stockholm were used as the reference group. A case-referent study was performed within the cohort, six referents being selected for each of the 20 lung cancer cases. The lung cancer risk increased with increasing cumulative exposure to diesel exhaust, but not with cumulative asbestos exposure. The relative risk for lung cancer among the highly exposed men was 2.4 (95% CI 1.3-4.5) as compared with those with low exposure. The study indicates that exposure to diesel exhaust increases the risk for lung cancer.

Asbestos↗
PubMed1990

Interpretation of "negative" studies in occupational epidemiology.

Two criteria for an interpretation of noneffect are that the relative risk estimate be near unity and that the confidence interval be narrow; lack of statistical significance has no bearing on this issue. A further requirement is that the relative risk estimate not be near the null value as an effect of non-differential exposure misclassification, negative confounding, or some other systematic error. Occasionally, when results are unexpected or difficult to accept, studies are "underinterpreted" as negative or inconclusive on the basis of arguments such as "confounding," "crude exposure assessment," or "lack of a known mechanism." The present paper supports the position that these arguments are commonly invalid. Scientific standards should be used to separate causal associations from noncausal ones, but in public health decisions this practice has to be balanced by the principle that the "benefit of the doubt" should be given to the persons subject to potential risk.

Bias↗
PubMed1990

Cancer epidemiology in the paper and pulp industry.

Several studies of pulp and paper workers have demonstrated increased risks for certain cancer sites, e.g. tumours of the lymphatic and haematopoietic system as well as stomach cancer. An impressive lung cancer excess was found among paper and board mill workers in Finland, but not in studies elsewhere. Individual exposures have not been estimated, neither has a job-exposure matrix been applied in any of the studies. Therefore, it is impossible to link any of the excesses to specific single compounds or mixtures, of which there are a multitude in the pulp and paper industries. Although there are high quantities of organic chlorine compounds in the process mixtures and waste, the compounds have low volatility and occupational exposures are not necessarily high. Estimations of individual occupational exposure should be mandatory in future epidemiological studies in this industry.

Humans↗
PubMed1990

Lung cancer incidence among Swedish ceramic workers with silicosis.

The incidence of lung cancer among 280 silicotic men working in the ceramics industry and notified to the Swedish Silicosis Registry has been investigated. During the study period 1958-83, the risk of lung cancer (nine cases) was double that expected based on national rates. There was no increased incidence of cancer at any other site. The results are in agreement with those of both animal and epidemiological studies of quartz exposure and point to an increased risk of lung cancer, especially among silicotics. Various possible explanations of this increased risk are discussed, but further studies are required.

Ceramics↗