PA Medical News about rock wool; glass wool; man-made vitreous fibers production; lung cancer; head and neck cancer

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Occupational Exposure to Rock Wool and Glass Wool and Risk of Cancers of the Lung and the Head and Neck: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 09/01/09

Lipworth L et al. – Despite a small elevation in relative risk (RR) for lung cancer among man–made vitreous fibers (MMVF) production workers, the lack of excess risk among end users, the absence of any dose–risk relation, the likelihood of detection bias, and the potential for residual confounding by smoking and asbestos exposure argue against a carcinogenic effect of , rock wool (RW), or glass wool (GW) at this time. Similar conclusions apply to head and neck (HN) cancer risk among workers exposed to MMVF.

Methods

A systematic review and meta–analysis of risk estimates of lung and HN cancer in epidemiologic studies of workers exposed to man–made vitreous fibers (MMVF), specifically RW and GW.

Results

Sixteen estimates of lung cancer risk yielded a summary relative risk (RR) of 1.21. Corresponding RRs were 1.26 in studies of production workers (with similar risk for RW and GW workers), 1.06 in studies of end users, and 1.18 in community–based studies.
The summary RR for HN cancer was 1.36.
With a few exceptions, all studies that assessed the risk of lung or HN cancer according to various indices of MMVF exposure failed to detect a dose–risk relation.
There was limited evidence of a confounding effect of tobacco smoking.
No clear excess of pleural mesothelioma has been reported in MMVF–exposed workers.