1,3-butadiene, styrene and lung cancer among synthetic rubber industry workers.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the association between cumulative exposure to 1,3-butadiene (BD) or styrene (STY) and lung cancer among synthetic rubber industry workers.


METHODS
Internal Cox regression analyses were performed both with and without natural logarithm transformation of exposure variables and both with and without the inclusion of those unexposed to monomers.


RESULTS
Among women, analyses using untransformed BD exposure showed no trend. Analyses using natural logarithm-transformed BD exposure indicated a positive trend when the unexposed were included (P < 0.05) and an inverse trend when the unexposed were excluded (P < 0.05). No exposure-response trends were seen for BD among men or for STY among women or men.


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that the association between BD and lung cancer, seen in some analyses of female employees, is not causal. STY did not appear to be associated with lung cancer.
Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Ala, USA. nalini@uab.edu
Nalini
N
Sathiakumar
Ilene
I
Brill
Elizabeth
E
Delzell
D000368:Aged; D002070:Butadienes / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002273:Carcinogens / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D019992:Databases as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012408:Rubber; D013343:Styrenes / Q000008:administration & dosage*
D002070:Butadienes; D002273:Carcinogens; D013343:Styrenes; D012408:Rubber; C031763:1,3-butadiene