Does living near heavy industry cause lung cancer in women? A case control study using life grid interviews

Richard Edwards ^1*, Tanja Pless-Mulloli ², Denise Howel ², Tom J Chadwick ², Raj Bhopal ³, Richard N Harrison ⁴ and Harry Gribbin ⁵

¹ University of Otago, New Zealand
² University of Newcastle, United Kingdom
³ University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom
⁴ University Hospital of North Tees, United Kingdom
⁵ James Cook University Hospital, United Kingdom

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: richard.edwards{at}otago.ac.nz.

Accepted 9 August 2006

Abstract

Background: Lung cancer incidence among women is high in the highly industrialised area of Teesside in north-east England. Previous research had implicated industrial pollution as a possible cause. We investigated whether prolonged residence close to heavy industry was associated with lung cancer among Teesside women.

Methods: We recruited 204 women aged <80yrs with incident primary lung cancer and 339 age-matched community controls to a population-based case control study. We obtained life-course residential, occupational and active and passive smoking histories using an interviewer administered questionnaire.

Results: The age-adjusted odds ratio (OR) for lung cancer among people living > 25 years vs 0 years near (within 0-5 km) heavy industry in Teesside was 2.13 (95% CI 1.34 to 3.38). After adjustment for confounding factors the OR was 1.83 (95% CI 0.82 to 4.08) for > 25 years or 1.10 (0.96 to 1.26) for an additional 10 years lived near industry. ORs were similar after we also included residence near heavy industry outside Teesside, and when we allowed for latency by disregarding residential exposures within the last 20 years. Adjustment for active smoking had the greatest effect on the OR.

Conclusions: This population-based study using lifegrid interviews for life course exposure assessment, addressed many deficiencies in the design of previous studies. The findings supported those in most of the international literature of a modestly raised risk of lung cancer with prolonged residence close to heavy industry, though the confidence intervals were wide. The role of air pollution in lung cancer incidence merits continued study.

Keywords: aetiological study, air pollution, case control study, heavy industry, lung cancer

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