The global burden of disease due to occupational carcinogens

Abstract Background The worldwide mortality and morbidity from lung cancer, leukemia, and malignant mesothelioma arising from occupational exposures to carcinogens are described. Cases reported in the year 2000 that resulted from relevant past and current exposures are assessed. Methods The proportions of workers exposed to the carcinogens of interest, and their levels of exposure, were estimated using workforce data and the CAREX (CARcinogen EXposure) database. These were combined with relative risk measures (for lung cancer and leukemia) or absolute risk measures (for malignant mesothelioma) to develop estimates of deaths, disability‐adjusted life years (DALYs) and attributable fraction (for lung cancer and leukemia). Results There were an estimated 152,000 deaths (lung cancer: 102,000; leukemia: 7,000; and malignant mesothelioma: 43,000) and nearly 1.6 million DALYS (lung cancer: 969,000; leukemia: 101,000; and malignant mesothelioma: 564,000) due to exposure to occupational carcinogens. Conclusions Occupational carcinogens are an important cause of death and disability worldwide. Am. J. Ind. Med. 48:419–431, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.