Independent Association Between Occupational Exposure and Decline of FVC in Systemic Sclerosis: A Multicenter Recruitment Retrospective Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Although male sex is associated with poor prognosis in systemic sclerosis (SSc), it is unclear whether this association is independent of confounding factors such as occupational exposure to toxicants. RESEARCH QUESTION: What is the respective impact of sex and occupational exposure on characteristics of patients with SSc with a focus on lung function decline? STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Patients with SSc (n = 210; 55 men) underwent standardized quantitative assessment of occupational exposure through a cumulative exposure score (CES) in a multicenter recruitment retrospective cohort. Association of the CES with patients' characteristics was assessed. Mixed linear, logistic, and Cox regression models were used to identify predictors of time variation of FVC and the diffusing capacity of the lungs for CO2 corrected for hemoglobin (Dlcoc). RESULTS: Male sex was associated strongly with occupational exposure (OR, 10.3; P < .0001). The CES was correlated inversely (r = -0.20) and associated independently with decline in FVC over time and with occurrence of FVC decline of ≥ 10% from baseline (P < .05). By contrast, the CES was not associated with decline in Dlcoc or Dlcoc decline of ≥ 15%. No independent association was found between sex and decline in FVC or Dlcoc. The prevalence of interstitial lung disease was similar across sex or occupational exposure. INTERPRETATION: Occupational exposure to toxicants seems to predict decline of FVC in patients with SSc independently, regardless of sex. Assessment of occupational exposure may be useful for SSc prognostication.

Development of a Questionnaire for the Search for Occupational Causes in Patients with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma: The RHELYPRO Study.

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), multiple myeloma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia are possibly related to environmental and/or occupational exposure. The primary objective of this study was to develop a questionnaire for screening patients with these blood disorders who might benefit from a specialized consultation for possible recognition of the disease as an occupational disease. The study included 205 subjects (male gender, 67.3%; mean age, 60 years; NHL, 78.5%). The questionnaire performed very satisfactorily in identifying the exposures most frequently retained by experts for their potential involvement in the occurrence of NHL. Its sensitivity and specificity in relation to the final expertise were 96% and 96% for trichloroethylene, 85% and 82% for benzene, 78% and 87% for solvents other than trichloroethylene and dichloromethane, 87% and 95% for pesticides, respectively. Overall, 15% of the subjects were invited to ask National Social Insurance for compensation as occupational disease. These declarations concerned exposure to pesticides (64%), solvents (trichloroethylene: 29%; benzene: 18%; other than chlorinated solvents: 18%) and sometimes multiple exposures. In conclusion, this questionnaire appears as a useful tool to identify NHL patients for a specialized consultation, in order to ask for compensation for occupational disease.

The IARC Monographs: Updated Procedures for Modern and Transparent Evidence Synthesis in Cancer Hazard Identification.

The Monographs produced by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) apply rigorous procedures for the scientific review and evaluation of carcinogenic hazards by independent experts. The Preamble to the IARC Monographs, which outlines these procedures, was updated in 2019, following recommendations of a 2018 expert advisory group. This article presents the key features of the updated Preamble, a major milestone that will enable IARC to take advantage of recent scientific and procedural advances made during the 12 years since the last Preamble amendments. The updated Preamble formalizes important developments already being pioneered in the Monographs program. These developments were taken forward in a clarified and strengthened process for identifying, reviewing, evaluating, and integrating evidence to identify causes of human cancer. The advancements adopted include the strengthening of systematic review methodologies; greater emphasis on mechanistic evidence, based on key characteristics of carcinogens; greater consideration of quality and informativeness in the critical evaluation of epidemiological studies, including their exposure assessment methods; improved harmonization of evaluation criteria for the different evidence streams; and a single-step process of integrating evidence on cancer in humans, cancer in experimental animals, and mechanisms for reaching overall evaluations. In all, the updated Preamble underpins a stronger and more transparent method for the identification of carcinogenic hazards, the essential first step in cancer prevention.

Occupational exposure factors for mental and behavioral disorders at work: The FOREC thesaurus.

BACKGROUND: Mental disorders in the workplace are a major public health problem. Knowledge of the impact of the psychosocial work environment on mental and behavioral disorders can assist occupational physicians in the identification and description of occupational risk situations, and help to define priority actions. However, no classification for occupational exposure factors is currently available. We aimed to build a thesaurus of "Organizational, Relational, Ethical and other Contributing Factors" (FOREC) linked with the onset of mental and behavioral disorders. METHODS: The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES) initiated and supervised a multidisciplinary working group consisting of the representatives of the main French occupational and public health actors. All decisions were accepted on a consensus basis. This collaborative work led to the classification of occupational exposure factors for mental and behavioral disorders in the workplace. To test this thesaurus in clinical practice, a French multicenter study was implemented. Patients were workers referred to the Occupational Disease Centers for mental health issues at work. Factors contributing to mental and behavioral disorders among workers were identified and coded retrospectively from the worker's point of view using the FOREC thesaurus. RESULTS: We recruited 323 workers, aged 44.9±9.2 years, of which 31.3% were men. The most commonly encountered disorders were generalized anxiety disorders (106 workers, 32.8%) and moderate depressive episodes (86 workers, 26.7%). We identified 1357 factors, i.e. an average of 4.2 factors per worker. Among them, 575 (42.4%) were relational and 515 (37.9%) were organizational. All factors identified during consultations were described in the thesaurus. CONCLUSIONS: We built the first thesaurus of "Organizational, Relational, Ethical and other Contributing Factors" (FOREC) that may help to generate profiles of mental and behavioral disorders at work. Encoding and describing these exposure factors, as well as using a worldwide standardized and shared terminology, will help to identify specific workplace prevention programs.

Burnout syndrome as an occupational disease in the European Union: an exploratory study.

The risk of psychological disorders influencing the health of workers increases in accordance with growing requirements on employees across various professions. This study aimed to compare approaches to the burnout syndrome in European countries. A questionnaire focusing on stress-related occupational diseases was distributed to national experts of 28 European Union countries. A total of 23 countries responded. In 9 countries (Denmark, Estonia, France, Hungary, Latvia, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia and Sweden) burnout syndrome may be acknowledged as an occupational disease. Latvia has burnout syndrome explicitly included on the List of ODs. Compensation for burnout syndrome has been awarded in Denmark, France, Latvia, Portugal and Sweden. Only in 39% of the countries a possibility to acknowledge burnout syndrome as an occupational disease exists, with most of compensated cases only occurring in recent years. New systems to collect data on suspected cases have been developed reflecting the growing recognition of the impact of the psychosocial work environment. In agreement with the EU legislation, all EU countries in the study have an action plan to prevent stress at the workplace.

Occupational asthma and occupational rhinitis: the united airways disease model revisited.

OBJECTIVES: Whereas accumulating evidence indicates close associations between rhinitis and asthma, little is known about the relationships between occupational rhinitis (OR) and occupational asthma (OA). This study analyses the prevalence of OR associated with OA, globally and according to the various causal agents, and investigates the temporal relationships between these two conditions. METHODS: Data on incident cases of OA (2008-2010) were collected through the French national occupational disease surveillance and prevention network, using a standardised form including information on occupation, causal agents, presence of OR, and respective dates of occurrence of rhinitis and asthma. RESULTS: Among the 596 reported OA cases with latency period, 555 could be attributed to identified agents: high molecular weight (HMW) agents (n=174); low molecular weight (LMW) agents (n=381). Overall, OR was associated with OA in 324 (58.4%) cases. The frequency of association was significantly higher for HMW agents than for LMW agents (72.2% vs 51.5%, p<0.001). OR occurred before OA significantly more frequently for HMW agents than for LMW agents (p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: These results show that OR is frequently associated with OA, especially when HMW agents are involved. They are consistent with the hypothesis that OR, in conjunction with OA, is more likely to be caused by sensitisers that cause disease via IgE-mediated mechanisms and suggest that symptoms of OR should be taken into account in the medical surveillance of workers exposed to HMW agents.

Programmed health surveillance and detection of emerging diseases in occupational health: contribution of the French national occupational disease surveillance and prevention network (RNV3P).

OBJECTIVE: The French national occupational disease surveillance and prevention network (RNV3P) includes the 30 occupational disease consultation centres in university hospitals to which patients are referred for potentially work-related diseases, and an occupational health service. The aim of this work is to demonstrate the contribution of RNV3P to national health surveillance. METHODS: Data from consultations are recorded in standardised occupational health reports and coded using international or national classifications. Programmed health surveillance is carried out through annual follow-up of annual referrals to experts for pre-selected disease-exposure associations, as well as incidence estimations for the well characterised working population followed by the occupational health service. Hypotheses on new emerging diseases are generated using statistical methods employed in pharmacosurveillance and by modelling as an exposome to analyse multiple exposures. RESULTS: 58,777 occupational health reports were collected and analysed from 2001 to 2007. Referrals to the 30 university hospital centres increased significantly for asbestos-related diseases, mood disorders and adjustment disorders related to psychological and organisational demands, and for elbow and shoulder disorders related to manual handling. Referrals significantly decreased for asthma and for rhinitis related to exposure to organic dusts (vegetable or animal) or chemicals, except for cosmetics and cleaning products. Estimation of incidences by the occupational health services showed different patterns in different sectors of activity. The methods for detecting emerging diseases are presented and illustrated using the example of systemic sclerosis, identifying new exposures and new sectors of activity to be investigated. CONCLUSION: The RNV3P collects data from two complementary samples: 30 university hospital centres (workers or former workers) and an occupational health service (current workers). This dual approach is useful for surveillance and for hypothesis generation on new emerging disease-exposure associations.

Occupational exposure in ANCA-positive patients: a case-control study.

BACKGROUND: Antineutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibodies (ANCA) are valuable biomarkers for the diagnosis and follow-up of small vessel vasculitis. The role of ANCA has not yet been fully established, but genetic, infectious, and/or environmental factors may increase susceptibility to these diseases. We performed an epidemiologic study to investigate whether the presence of ANCA was associated with silica or any other form of occupational exposure, regardless of the underlying disease. METHODS: All consecutive ANCA-positive patients recorded at the institution's Laboratory of Immunology between 1990 and 2000 were included. Patients hospitalized in a unit of internal medicine matched for age and gender were selected as controls (two controls/case). Qualitative and semiquantitative professional exposure and smoking habits were analyzed by five experts blind to the diagnosis. RESULTS: Univariate analysis showed that patients who reported dust exposure had a 2.6 greater risk of being ANCA-positive (P= 0.007) (odds ratio 2.6; 95% CI 1.3 to 5.3) and individuals with professional exposure to silica had a 3.4 higher risk of being ANCA-positive (P= 0.03) (odds ratio 3.4; 95% CI 1.1 to 9.9). None of the other environmental factors or smoking habits were different between ANCA-positive patients and controls. There was no difference in silica exposure between patients with cytoplasmic ANCA (c-ANCA), perinuclear ANCA (p-ANCA), or atypical ANCA. Semiquantitative analysis showed a dose effect of silica exposure with a nearly sevenfold greater risk of being ANCA-positive compared to controls (P= 0.02) (odds ratio 6.9; 95% CI 1.3 to 35.1). CONCLUSION: These results support the hypothesis that the presence of ANCA in plasma might at least partially be related to occupational exposure.