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Reducing occupational exposure to chemical carcinogens John W. Cherrie
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Abstract
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Key words
Cancer; chemicals; workplace.
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Introduction
Occupational cancer deaths in Great Britain are still at an unacceptable level. Rushton et al. [1] estimate that there are .7000 deaths attributable to work-related carcinogens for the six cancers that they assessed, 4.9% of the total cancer deaths. In comparison, there are just .3000 people who lose their lives in road traffic accidents in Britain and
240 died as a consequence of accidents at work.
There are .170 chemicals or exposure circumstances that have been classified by the International Agency for
Research on Cancer (IARC) as known or probable human carcinogens (Groups 1 and 2a, respectively). In addition, there are 250 substances or circumstances that are classified as possibly carcinogenic in humans (Group
2b). Details are available on the IARC website (http:// monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Classification/index.php). A large proportion of these substances may be found in workplaces, either because they are used in processes or because they are emitted during the operation of
processes.
References: Books, 2008. Downloaded from http://occmed.oxfordjournals.org/ by guest on January 15, 2013 top-ten