Does your job really matter? Job-specific cancer incidence among a cohort coal mine workers in Queensland, Australia

Globally, coal production exposes millions of workers to coal mine dust. This study aimed to measure overall and site specific cancer incidence among coal mine workers (CMW) who performed different types of work.

A retrospective cohort of CMW in Queensland, Australia, was assembled using health assessment records from 1992. CMW were grouped by job type and then into Work Categories and linked to the Australian Cancer Database up to 2016. Standardized cancer incidence ratios (SIR) and relative cancer incidence ratios (aRIR) within the cohort, adjusted for age, era, and smoking status, were calculated for men and women with Poisson regression.

There were 5,568 cancers diagnosed among 146,553 men and 396 in 19,927 women. The overall cancer risk was comparable to that of the general population for most Work Categories. The risk of lung cancer was higher for male Production (SIR 123, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] 107-142; adjusted Relative incidence Ratio (aRIR) (adjusted for era, age and smoking status) 1.23, 95%CI 0.99-1.52) and Construction workers (SIR 189, 95%CI 31-272; aRIR 1.78, 95%CI 1.20-2.62) when compared with the Australian population and within the cohort after adjusting for smoking. Laryngeal cancer was increased in Production workers (SIR 145, 95%CI 100-212).

Increased rates of lung and laryngeal cancers were identified for male Production workers and lung cancer for Construction workers. These could be related to mine workplace exposures such as silica and diesel engine exhaust.