Sinonasal cancer incidence in Lombardy, Italy, 2008-20.

BACKGROUND: Epithelial sinonasal cancers (SNC) are rare tumours with recognized associations with known/suspected occupational carcinogens (wood/leather dust, nickel/chromium compounds and formaldehyde). In Italy, a national SNC registry organized as a network of regional registries was established by law in 2008. AIMS: To describe SNC time trends, occupational exposures and geographical distribution in Lombardy, North-West Italy, based on population registry data (2008-20). METHODS: The Lombardy SNC Registry records epithelial SNCs using various sources. Interviews to collect occupational history are performed using a standardized questionnaire. Using several standard populations, we calculated yearly crude and age-standardized rates (ASRs per 100,000 person-years). Standardized incidence ratios (SIR) at municipality level were calculated, and Bayesian models were fitted to produce smoothed SIR maps. RESULTS: We recorded 827 cases (553 men, 274 women). Crude (world standardized) ASRs were 0.9 (0.4) in men and 0.4 (0.2) in women, with no time trends. Interviews were obtained for 485 (88%) men and 223 (81%) women. Among men, 217 (45%) had been exposed to occupational carcinogens (wood/leather dust: 150/65 cases, 31%/13%), while only 36 women (16%) were exposed. Among 201 men with adenocarcinoma, exposure to wood/leather dust occurred in 103/50 cases (75%/50%). Areas with elevated SIRs associated with leather dust were found in the Western areas. Exposure to wood dust was more widespread. CONCLUSIONS: This study found a high frequency of occupational exposures (wood and leather dust), particularly in men with SNC. Employment in shoe industries clustered in the Western part, while work in furniture industries was less spatially structured.

[The contribution of surveillance systems of occupational diseases and mesothelioma in environmental health studies]. / Il contributo dei sistemi di registrazione delle malattie professionali e dei mesoteliomi negli studi su ambiente e salute.

National surveillance systems of occupational diseases may contribute to evaluate the work-related component of diseases investigated in SENTIERI Project. For a description of SENTIERI, refer to the 2010 Supplement of Epidemiology & Prevention devoted to SENTIERI Project. The National Workers Compensation Authority (INAIL) archives all occupational diseases claims (more than 230 000 in the period 2000-2007) and is in charge of their compensation. The Italian National Mesothelioma Register (ReNaM) and the Sinonasal Cancer Register (ReNaTuNS) record high occupational etiological fraction neoplasms (i.e. mesothelioma and sinonasal cancers). The former has identified more than 10 000 mesothelioma cases until now, and covers almost the whole country; the latter is active only in three Italian regions, Piemonte, Lombardia and Toscana. The monitoring of cancer sites at lower occupational etiological fraction is based on a record-linkage procedure between population-based cancer registries and employment history data, available at the Italian National Institute for Social Security (INPS). Finally, the informative system Mal.Prof collects and classifies all the diseases possibly related to the work environment reported by the Prevention Services of the Local Health Units.

Industry and job-specific mortality after occupational exposure to silica dust.

BACKGROUND: Occupational exposure to silica dust occurs in many workplaces and is well known to cause silicosis. However, the link between silica exposure, silicosis and other diseases is still disputed. AIMS: To evaluate cause-specific mortality in a cohort of Italian silicotics. METHODS: The cohort included 2034 male compensated for silicosis between 1943 and 1986, alive on 1 January 1987 and resident in the Latium region (Italy). Mortality follow-up was from 1987 to 2006. Vital status and death causes were ascertained from the regional mortality archive. Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) were computed assuming a Poisson distribution of observed deaths. RESULTS: Significant excess mortality was observed from all causes (SMR: 1.17, 95% CI: 1.11-1.24), cancer of trachea, bronchus and lung (SMR: 1.39, 95% CI: 1.17-1.64), cancer of larynx (SMR: 2.18, 95% CI: 1.32-3.60) and tuberculosis (SMR: 5.85, 95% CI: 3.03-11.30). Higher risks were observed for masons (lung cancer, SMR: 2.46, 95% CI: 1.65-3.66) and miners (larynx cancer, SMR: 5.31, 95% CI: 1.88-15.03). In a Poisson regression analysis, the relative risk of death from lung cancer and silicosis increased with silicosis severity and decreased in more recent compensation periods. CONCLUSIONS: The excess mortality from respiratory tract cancers and other diseases detected among Italian workers compensated for silicosis confirms previous epidemiological findings.

Risk of acquiring tick-borne infections in forestry workers from Lazio, Italy.

The seroprevalence of antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi and tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) virus was evaluated in a group of forestry rangers in the Lazio region of Italy. One hundred and forty-five forestry rangers and 282 blood donors were examined by two-tiered serological tests for B. burgdorferi and TBE virus. Information on occupation, residence, tick bites, outdoor leisure activities and other risk factors was obtained. The prevalence of IgG/IgM antibodies to B. burgdorferi showed no statistical difference between the two groups, but there was a higher occurrence of IgM antibodies. There were significant differences between indoor and outdoor, urban and rural workplaces among the 145 exposed workers (χ² test: p < 0.001), and a higher risk for outdoor rural than urban tasks was detected among the ten Western blot-tested forestry rangers positive to B. burgdorferi (χ² test: p < 0.1). No seropositivity was observed for the TBE virus. Forestry rangers from the Lazio region did not have a higher risk of Borrelia infection than the blood donors, though an increase in the risk for outdoor tasks in a rural environment was observed.

Magnitude of asbestos-related lung cancer mortality in Italy.

An ecological study, based on a data set containing all lung and pleural cancer deaths in each Italian municipality in the period 1980-2001, was performed. The pleural to lung cancer ratio was estimated to be 1 : 1 and 3% (around 700) of all male lung cancer deaths were found to be asbestos-related.

Occupational exposure levels to wood dust in Italy, 1996-2006.

BACKGROUND: Wood dust has been classified as carcinogenic to humans and the association with nasal cancer risk has been observed in a large number of epidemiological studies. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to summarise data about occupational exposure levels to wood dust in Italy and to examine some exposure determinants. METHODS: Exposure measurements on wood dust were extracted from the SIREP (Italian Information System on Occupational Exposure to Carcinogens) database between 1996-2006. Descriptive statistics were calculated for exposure-related variables using univariate analyses. The prevalence of elevated exposure levels was estimated overall and for some industrial sectors. A multifactorial analysis of variance was performed to determine which factors influenced exposure levels to wood dust. RESULTS: The total number of exposure measurements (n) reported is 10,837, which refer to 10,528 workers and 1181 companies. The overall arithmetic mean is 1.44 mg/m(3) and the geometric mean is 0.97 mg/m(3). Industrial sectors at high risk are "manufacture of wood and wood products" (n = 5539) as well as "manufacture of furniture" (n = 4347). About 74% of exposure measurements report a value <2 mg/m(3). In the multifactorial analysis, it has been found that job category, industrial sector, company size and geographical location of the company influence the exposure levels. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms the previous findings about occupational exposure to wood dust (mainly in wood industry and among woodworking machine operators) and suggests further investigations on other risk sectors (building and repairing of ships and boats). The potential of the occupational exposure database as a source of data for exposure assessment and surveillance is also confirmed.

Air pollution impact assessment on agroecosystem and human health characterisation in the area surrounding the industrial settlement of Milazzo (Italy): a multidisciplinary approach.

In order to evaluate the impact of atmospheric pollutants emitted by the industrial settlement of Milazzo (Italy) on agriculture, sulphur dioxide and ozone levels in air were monitored and the data were used to estimate yield losses of the most widespread cultures. Trace element concentrations in crops and soils were also detected and metabolic profiles of soil microbial communities were considered. Vibrio fischeri test was used to appraise airborne pollutant ecotoxicity and epidemiological studies on causes of death distribution were carried out to characterize health state of people living in the area. All the sampling points were selected in farms on the basis of a theoretical meteo-diffusive model of industrial air pollutants. Experimental SO2 and O3 values mainly exceeded the threshold established by Italian and EU regulations to protect vegetation and they correspond to estimated significant crop losses. Conversely toxic element residues in soils and in agroalimentary products were generally lower than the fixed values. SO2 and O3 concentrations, toxic element contents and ecotoxicity levels of airborne pollutants were not related only to industrial site emissions, while the fluctuations on metabolic profiles of soil microbial communities seem to agree with the predicted deposition of xenobiotic compounds from the industrial plants. The epidemiological study evidenced a better health state of populations living in the investigated area than in the Messina province and the Sicily region but, inside the area, males living in the municipalities closest to the industrial settlement exhibited a worst health state than those in the very far ones.

Kairomonal response of predators to three pine bast scale sex pheromones.

The kairomonal activity of the sex pheromones of three pine bast scales, Matsucoccus feytaudi, Matsucoccus josephi, and Matsucoccus matsumurae, as well as a new analog of the M. feytaudi sex pheromone, were investigated in pine forests of France, Portugal, and Italy. The response of the maritime pine bast scale predators, Elatophilus spp. and Hemerobius stigma, was used to test the influence of trapping methods, kairomone composition, and dose. Both predators showed significant attraction to all compounds except to the sex pheromone of M. josephi. Significant increase in captures was observed as a function of dose, and within the studied dose range, up to 2200 mug, no threshold saturation limits were observed for any of the attractive compounds. Trap design and size did not significantly influence predator captures, except for high population levels of Elatophilus crassicornis, when plate traps were more efficient than delta traps. Geographic variations were found in the kairomonal responses patterns of both predators, with the M. matsumurae sex pheromone being more attractive to the oriental populations from Corsica and Italy, whereas the western populations in Aquitaine and Portugal were more attracted to the M. feytaudi sex pheromone.