title: Prevalence of occupational exposure to carcinogens among workers of Arabic, Chinese and Vietnamese ancestry in Australia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although job-related diseases result in more deaths per year than job-related injuries, most research concerning ethnic minority workers has concerned accidents and injuries rather than disease-causing exposures such as carcinogens.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a telephone-based cross-sectional survey to estimate the prevalence of occupational exposure to carcinogens among a sample of ethnic minority workers in Australia, and compared their exposure prevalence to that of a sample of the general Australian-born working population ('Australian workers').
  
  
  RESULTS
  One-third of the ethnic minority workers were exposed to at least one carcinogen at work. The likelihood of exposure to carcinogens was not significantly different from that of Australian workers, although the likelihood of exposure to individual carcinogens varied by ethnicity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Knowing the prevalence of exposure to carcinogens in the workplace in different ethnic groups will allow better targeted and informed occupational health and safety measures to be implemented where necessary.
authors.affiliation: Cancer Control Research, British Columbia Cancer Agency, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.|School of Population and Public Health, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.|Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Terry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Boyle
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Renee N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Carey
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Deborah C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Glass
authors.affiliation: School of Population Health, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fritschi
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Alison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Reid
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D018912:Arabs / Q000208:ethnology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D044466:Asian People / Q000208:ethnology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D002273:Carcinogens / Q000633:toxicity*; D002681:China / Q000208:ethnology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016272:Occupational Health / Q000208:ethnology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014744:Vietnam / Q000208:ethnology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D002273:Carcinogens
keywords: carcinogens; epidemiology; ethnicity; minority groups; occupational exposure