Occupational exposure to diesel and gasoline engine exhausts and risk of lung cancer among Finnish workers

Background Studies on engine exhausts and lung cancer have given inconsistent results. Methods Economically active Finns were followed-up for lung cancer during 1971-95 (33,664 cases). Their Census occupations in 1970 were converted to exposures to diesel and gasoline engine exhausts with a job-exposure matrix. The relative risks (RRs) for cumulative exposure (CE) were defined by Poisson regression, adjusted for smoking, asbestos, and quartz dust exposure, and socioeconomic status. Results RR for engine exhausts among men did not increase with increasing CE In women, RR for gasoline engine exhaust was 1.58(95% CI 1.10-2.26) in the CE-category of 1-99 mg/m(3)-y and 1.66 (1.11-2.50) among those with greater than or equal to100 mg/m(3)-y (lag 20 years). With a lag of 10 years RR for the middle/highest diesel exhaust category in women was 1.42 (0.94-2.13). Conclusions Occupational exposure to engine exhausts was not consistently associated with lung cancer in this study, possibly due to low exposure levels. (C) 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.