Pascale Scanff

Cancers in France in 2015 attributable to occupational exposures

BACKGROUND Recent and comprehensive estimates for the number of new cancer cases in France attributable to occupational exposures are lacking. OBJECTIVES To estimate the number of new cancer cases attributable to occupational exposures, using a newly developed methodology and the most recent data, for a comprehensive set of occupational carcinogens in France in 2015. METHODS Surveys among employees, the national labor force data, a cohort of agricultural workers, national monitoring of workers exposed to ionizing radiation and job-exposure matrix in France were used. The number and proportion of new cancer cases attributable to established occupational carcinogens (Group 1) was estimated using estimation of lifetime exposure and risk estimates from cohort studies. Cancer data were obtained from the French Cancer Registries Network. RESULTS In France in 2015, an estimated 7905 new cancer cases, 7336 among men and 569 among women, were attributable to occupational exposures, representing 2.3% of all new cancer cases (3.9% and 0.4% among men and women respectively). Among men and women, lung cancer was impacted the most, followed by mesothelioma and bladder cancer in men, and by mesothelioma and ovary in women. These cancers contributed to 89% of the total cancers attributable to occupational carcinogens in men, and to 80% in women. The main contributing occupational agent was asbestos among men (45%) and women (60%). CONCLUSIONS Currently, occupational exposures contribute to a substantial burden of cancer in France. Enhanced monitoring and implementation of protective labor policies could potentially prevent a large proportion of these cancers.

304 Risk of occupational cataract in interventional cardiology: The O’CLOC study

Interventional cardiologists are repeatedly and acutely exposed to scattered ionizing radiations (X-rays) during their diagnostic or therapeutic procedures. These exposures may cause damages to the eye and induce early lens-opacities, known as radiation-induced cataracts. The O’CLOC study (Occupational Cataracts and Lens Opacities among Cardiologists) is the first epidemiological study designed to test the hypothesis of an increased risk of cataracts among interventional cardiologists as compared with cardiologists not exposed to X-rays. This multicenter crosss-sectional study will include a total of 300 cardiologists aged > 40 years: a group of interventional cardiologists (≈ 2/3 coronary interventionists and 1/3 electrophysiologists) and a group of unexposed cardiologists (clinicians or echocardiographists), both groups being matched for age, sex and place of work. Individual information, including risk factors of cataracts (age, diabetes, myopia, etc…), will be collected during a telephone interview. For the exposed group, a specific section of the questionnaire is focused on the occupational history, the description of the procedures (type, frequency, radiation protection tool) and will be used for the classification into “comparable exposure level” groups according to estimates of cumulative dose. For all participants, eye examinations will be performed to specifically detect cataracts, even in their early stages (lens opacities, LOCS according to the international standard classification). The analysis will provide an estimation of the risk of cataract in interventional cardiology relative to not-exposed reference group, taking into account other risk factors. An analysis comparing the risks according to the level of exposure is also planned. This epidemiological study will provide further knowledge on the potential risk of occupational radiation-induced cataracts in cardiology and will contribute to the awareness of cardiologists in radiation protection.