People who developed cancer after being exposed to the toxic ash that was dispersed over Manhattan when the World Trade Center (WTC) collapsed on 9 September 2001 would qualify for free treatment of the disease and potentially hefty compensation payments under a rule proposed by US federal health officials. They say 50 different types of cancer should be added to the list of sicknesses covered by a $4.3 billion fund set up to compensate and treat people exposed to the toxic smoke, dust and fumes in the months after the incident.

New York Times, 8 June 2012. World Trade Center Health Program.

If you work in the hydraulic fracturing industry – better known as “fracking”, a process used to free natural gas and oil from shale rock  – you may be exposed to high levels of crystalline silica, putting you at risk of silicosis, lung cancer and other debilitating diseases. The warning came in a 22 May 2012 letter sent by US unions to top federal safety agencies.

AFL-CIO blog and letter. NIOSH science blog. Bloomberg. Risks 558.

Working night shifts more than twice a week is associated with a 40 per cent increased risk of breast cancer, a study has found. The long term study, published online on 28 May 2012 in Occupational and Environmental Medicine, found those who had worked nights at least three times a week for at least six years were more than twice as likely to have the disease as those who had not.

Johnni Hansen and Christina F Lassen. Nested case-control study of night shift work and breast cancer risk among women in the Danish military, Occupational & Environmental Medicine, Online First, 28 May 2012, doi 10.1136/oemed-2011-100240.
TUC news release and occupational cancer guide [pdf]. Alliance for Cancer Prevention news release. The Guardian. Daily Mail. The Telegraph. Risks 558.

An online tool intended to help businesses move from toxic chemicals to less dangerous alternatives was launched in May 2012. The SUBSPORT project, which has involved unions in its design and development, provides free-of-charge multilingual tools.

ChemSec news release, 31 May 2012. ChemSec news report, SUBSPORT portal and case history database. Risks 558.

One of the USA’s largest unions and leading environmental advocacy groups started legal proceedings in May 2012 aimed at making sure the US government can alert the American public to the potential dangers of top cancer suspect styrene. The legal action by USW, the Environmental Defense Fund and Earthjustice is in support of the US Department of Health and Human Services’ listing of styrene as “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen,” in response to a chemical industry lawsuit attempting to force the agency to withdraw the styrene warning.

Earthjustice news release, 21 May 2012. Risks 557.

This broad-based report on cancer related to chemical exposures was produced by Vlaamse Liga tegen  Ka (VLK), the Flemish Cancer League, in May 2012. The report, which does not give detailed attention to occupational risks,  notes that while Europe-wide regulations like REACH have been positive, there are bureaucratic barriers to their effective implementation and significant gaps, including a failure to take account of the impact of mixed exposures or of the effect of long-term exposures to low doses.

Cathy Rigolle. A critical view on the policies regarding cancer-related chemicals, Vlaamse  Liga  tegen  Ka (Flemish Cancer League), May 2012.

The organisation that has for decades spearheaded the asbestos industry’s global sales drive has folded. The intention to close the Quebec-based Chrysotile Institute, announced by the group’s president Clement Godbout in the federal government’s Canada Gazette on 5 April 2012, was welcomed by unions and anti-asbestos campaigners.

International Ban Asbestos Secretariat. Chrysotile Institute notice of intention to surrender its charter, Canada Gazette. Risks 554..

More than 90,000 blue collar workers in Australia could be at risk of cancer, unions and cancer prevention advocates warned. They said the problem stemmed from a lack of coordination between regulators to reduce exposure to carcinogens and the absence of any incentive for industries to act. A national cancer at work forum hosted by Cancer Council Australia (CCA) and the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) heard the highest numbers of at-risk workers are employed in machinery manufacture, printing and allied industries, the food industry and plastics manufacture.

CCA news release, 3 May 2012. Herald Sun.

A study has confirmed the high numbers of lung cancers related to work. The research study in the Lombardy region of northern Italy showed significantly increasing risks of lung cancer for exposure to asbestos, crystalline silica and nickel-chromium exposure. The authors noted: “These findings support the substantial role of selected occupational carcinogens on lung cancer burden, even at low exposures, in a general population.” The real risk, particularly in certain jobs, is probably considerably higher than the study suggests. The Italian researchers did not evaluate the full, lengthy, list of suspected and known causes of work-related lung cancer. And high risks limited to certain occupations, for example the established lung cancer risk to miners from diesel exhaust, can be buried or missed entirely in broader studies of this type.

Sara de Matteis and others. Impact of occupational carcinogens on lung cancer risk in a general population. International Journal of Epidemiology, published Online First, 31 March 2012. OH-world.org blog. Risks 552.

This paper considers the use of established or probable carcinogens in Australia. These were identified to guide preventive policies such as use restrictions and tighter exposure standards. The list includes diesel and engine exhaust, asbestos, leather and wood dust, radiation, seven metals, formaldehyde, styrene, benzene, and various solvents as well as shift work involving circadian disruption. The report notes: “The priority list of agents can provide direction for future disease burden studies to establish the prevalence and levels of exposure to carcinogens amongst Australian workers. From a policy viewpoint, a priority list will allow regulators to focus on activities such as setting exposure standards and restricting importation and use.”

Renae Fernandez, Timothy Driscoll, Deborah Glass and others. A priority list of occupational carcinogenic agents for preventative action in Australia. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 36.2, pages 111-115.