Lung cancer and arsenic exposure in drinking water

A case-control study in northern Chile

Bibliographic Data

ID5270826
AuthorsCatterina Ferreccio (0000-0001-6331-5534, Grupo para el Desarrollo de la Investigación en Salud, Chile), Claudia Gonzalez Psych (Grupo para el Desarrollo de la Investigación en Salud, Chile), Vivian Milosavjlevic Stat (Grupo para el Desarrollo de la Investigación en Salud, Chile), Guillermo Marshall Gredis (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile), Ana María Sancha (University of Chile)
Year1998
Volume14
Issuesuppl 3
PagesS193-S198
Publication date1998-01-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCadernos de Saude Publica (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0102-311X • E-ISSN: 1678-4464
PublisherFapUNIFESP (SciELO) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1590/s0102-311x1998000700021
PMID9819479
OpenAlexW2145062382
SciELOS0102-311X1998000700021
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited9

In some Chilean cities, levels of arsenic (As) in drinking water reached 800 μg/L between 1950 and 1970, while current levels are 40 μg/L. To evaluate the causal role of this exposure in lung and bladder cancers, we conducted a case-control study in Regions I, II, and III of the country. From 1994 to 1996, cases diagnosed as lung cancer and two hospital controls were entered in the study; one control was a patient with a cancer, while the other was a patient without cancer, both conditions unrelated to As. Controls were matched with cases by age and sex. A standard survey containing questions about residence, employment, health history, was administered to study subjects. Data on As concentrations in water were obtained from records of the municipal water companies. A total of 151 lung cancer cases and 419 controls (167 with cancer and 242 without cancer) were enrolled. Median level of lifetime As exposure was significantly higher among cases, with a clear dose-response relationship between mean As exposure levels, with an OR (95% CI) of: 1, 1.7 (0.5-5.1), 3.9 (1.2-13.4), 5.5 (2.2-13.5), and 9.0 (3.6-22) for strata one to five respectively. This study provides new evidence that As in drinking water can cause internal cancers and gives an estimate of the form of this relationship

Arsenic · Bladder cancer · Cancer · Case-control study · Environmental health · Lung cancer · Residence · Arsenic contamination and mitigation · Demography · Heavy Metal Exposure and Toxicity · Internal Medicine · Medicine · Occupational and environmental lung diseases

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