Burden of cancer attributable to occupational exposures in The Netherlands: abstract

Objective It is well established that several occupational exposures have carcinogenic properties; the precise extent to which these exposures contribute to the recent cancer incidence in The Netherlands remains unclear. We estimated the annual cancer burden attributable to six occupational carcinogens in The Netherlands. Material and Methods We selected occupational exposures classified as Group 1 carcinogens by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) with high relevance to the Dutch working population. Selected exposures included asbestos, crystalline silica, diesel engine exhaust, and solar ultraviolet radiation (UV), as well as being employed as a welder or painter. Population attributable fractions (PAFs) were calculated using Levin’s equation for each exposure and associated cancer. Input data for the calculations included the proportions of the population exposed during the relevant exposure period (1971–2011) derived from Statistics Netherlands, and relative risks for each occupational exposure-cancer type combination obtained from existing literature. Cancer incidences from 2021, obtained from The NetherlandsCancer Registry, were combined with the PAFs to estimate the absolute numbers of attributable cases. Results Of 126,717 new cancer diagnosis in The Netherlandsin 2021, 3,932 (3.1%) were attributable to the occupational exposures in our study. Occupational cancer burden in men (5.4%) were higher than in women (0.5%). Solar UV exposure resulted in the largest cancer burden (1720 basal cell skin cancers), followed by asbestos (925 lung cancers, 463 mesotheliomas, 10 ovarian cancers, and 9 laryngeal cancers), occupation as painter (156 lung cancers, 83 bladder cancers), occupation as welder (201 lung cancers, 11 ocular melanomas), crystalline silica (233 lung cancers), and diesel engine exhaust (187 lung cancers). Conclusion Occupational exposures contribute to thousands of cancer diagnosis in The Netherlands annually. Our estimates of cancer burden attributable to six important occupational carcinogens highlight areas for potential efforts for exposure and disease prevention.
Abstract from: 30th Epidemiology in Occupational Health Conference (EPICOH 2025), Hosted by Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, 6–9 OCTOBER 2025, Utrecht, the Netherlands