The naval shipyard industry historically employed a large number of workers both nationally and globally. Previous studies of naval shipyard workers contributed to establishing the link between asbestos exposure and specific cancer types (lung cancer and mesothelioma). Also, studies have shown suggestive associations between asbestos and other cancers, such as colorectal cancer. However, due to the inconsistency of the data in the literature, the relationship between asbestos exposure and other health outcomes has yet to be established. Asbestos is only one of the numerous agents used in shipyard. Some of the occupational agents used in the shipyards, such as welding fumes, are hypothesized to be associated with various diseases. The overall purpose of the proposed study is to examine the Long Beach Naval Shipyard (LBNSY) in order to assess the association between occupational agents and health outcomes experienced by the workers employed from 1978 to 1985.This cohort consists of approximately 44,000 employment records of workers from 1941 to 1985, of which 13,934 workers employed in the shipyard between 1978 to 1985 have been digitized and included in the analysis. In addition, a subsample of 1,734 workers completed a questionnaire. The questionnaire contained an assessment of 20 different occupational exposures. The cohort was linked with the 2011 California Cancer Registry and Death Master files to determine cancer incidence, hospitalization procedures and mortality. The standard incidence and mortality ratios, as well as Cox's proportional hazards will be calculated to determine the association between exposure and cancer risks. In conclusion, the proposed study will examine exposure from several occupational agents in order to understand the long-term health outcomes. In a broader aspect, the study will play a role in identifying workers who are at high risk for colorectal cancer, which could result in an increase of cancer screening and prevention targeting this high-risk population.
Since the shipyard industry historically employs a large population domestically and globally, studies on the long-term adverse health effects of occupational exposures in the shipyard could impact a large number of people. The goal of this study is to examine the association between asbestos exposure and colorectal cancer risk, as well as the association between welding fumes exposure and lung cancer risk. The study will focus on establishing cancer risk factors for agents whose health outcomes has not yet been fully established, as well as identify high-risk populations for cancer screening and prevention, specifically through focusing on the association between asbestos exposure and colorectal cancer risk.
| Cabasag, Citadel J; Ziogas, Argyrios; Shehata, Merna et al. (2016) A Validation Method to Determine Missing Years of Birth in a Cohort Study of Shipyard Workers Using Social Security Number. J Occup Environ Med 58:631-5 |
