Diesel Exhaust Exposure and the Risk of Lung Cancer—A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence

Yi Sun, Frank Bochmann, Annette Nold and Markus Mattenklott
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Yi Sun: Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance (IFA), Alte Heerstraße 111, Sankt Augustin 53773, Germany
Frank Bochmann: Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance (IFA), Alte Heerstraße 111, Sankt Augustin 53773, Germany
Annette Nold: Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance (IFA), Alte Heerstraße 111, Sankt Augustin 53773, Germany
Markus Mattenklott: Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance (IFA), Alte Heerstraße 111, Sankt Augustin 53773, Germany

IJERPH, 2014, vol. 11, issue 2, 1-29

Abstract: To critically evaluate the association between diesel exhaust (DE) exposure and the risk of lung cancer, we conducted a systematic review of published epidemiological evidences. To comprehensively identify original studies on the association between DE exposure and the risk of lung cancer, literature searches were performed in literature databases for the period between 1970 and 2013, including bibliographies and cross-referencing. In total, 42 cohort studies and 32 case-control studies were identified in which the association between DE exposures and lung cancer was examined. In general, previous studies suffer from a series of methodological limitations, including design, exposure assessment methods and statistical analysis used. A lack of objective exposure information appears to be the main problem in interpreting epidemiological evidence. To facilitate the interpretation and comparison of previous studies, a job-exposure matrix (JEM) of DE exposures was created based on around 4,000 historical industrial measurements. The values from the JEM were considered during interpretation and comparison of previous studies. Overall, neither cohort nor case-control studies indicate a clear exposure-response relationship between DE exposure and lung cancer. Epidemiological studies published to date do not allow a valid quantification of the association between DE and lung cancer.

Keywords: diesel exhaust; diesel motor emissions; DME; epidemiology; review; lung cancer (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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