{
  "abstract": "Objective Occupational exposure to respirable crystalline silica (RCS) is a well-established risk factor for lung cancer. Exposure to RCS however is still very prevalent and will not be easily phased-out. Though exposures are better controlled, health gain from these interventions remains unknown. To estimate the number of lung cancer cases prevented as a result of controlling exposure to RCS over two decades in an entire European industrial-sector.Material and Methods The Industrials Minerals Association Dust Monitoring Program (IMA-DMP) focused on lowering exposure to RCS. The IMA-DMP database was used to estimate cumulative RCS for the IMA cohort of approximately 75,000 workers. A simulation model was used to estimate the number of lung cancer cases for two scenarios: one without intervention with a Geometric Mean exposure of 14 µg/m3 throughout the entire period and one where exposures declined over time (intervention).Results Our study included 44,435 RCS measurements, for which we estimated a 4.5% decrease per year over the period 2002-2022. The estimated number of lung cancer cases prevented during this period totaled about 3 cases (2.4% of the total number of lung cancer cases attributable to silica exposure and 0.3% of the total number of lung cancer cases that would have occurred without the intervention). Estimated GM exposure levels in the cohort at the end of follow-up were estimated to be 60% lower than at the start, while GM cumulative exposures were 28% lower.Conclusions The results show a relatively small number of prevented lung cancer cases resulting from an industry-wide dust monitoring program. This is likely to be due to the relatively young age of the cohort and the limited follow-up. However, given that there is no threshold below which lung cancer will not occur there is a need to continue the IMA-DMP and lower (future) workers’ cumulative exposure in order to preserve workers’ health and life.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS) Utrecht University, Netherlands Expertise Centre for Occupational Respiratory Disorders (NECORD)"
      ],
      "name": "Nicola Blagrove-Hall"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS) Utrecht University, Netherlands Expertise Centre for Occupational Respiratory Disorders (NECORD)"
      ],
      "name": "Lützen Portengen"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS) Utrecht University, Netherlands Expertise Centre for Occupational Respiratory Disorders (NECORD)"
      ],
      "name": "Remko Houba"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS) Utrecht University, Netherlands Expertise Centre for Occupational Respiratory Disorders (NECORD)"
      ],
      "name": "Hans Kromhout"
    }
  ],
  "title": "8292541 Modeling long-term lung cancer risk from exposure to respirable crystalline silica. effect of lowering exposures over a 20 year period in the European minerals industry?",
  "uid": "536882f5-7e08-5fae-82b8-472ff6cc889a"
}