IOM scientists argue that exposure to occupational chemical carcinogens could essentially be eliminated in Great Britain by 2025.
John Cherrie and colleagues from the IOM have recently published a paper in the scientific journal the Annals of Occupational Hygiene on exposure to occupational carcinogens in Great Britain. They show that there are probably about 7 million people in this country exposed to chemical carcinogens at work. The key exposures contributing to the current workplace cancer burden are:
Analysis of the likely changes in exposure over time suggests that occupational cancer risks from chemicals are much lower than they were 25 years ago and by 2025 they could be about a twentieth of those in the 1970s. By 2025, our scientists suggest that it should be possible to reduce the exposure to known occupational chemical carcinogens so that they contribute very much less than 1% of all cancers in society. This is a challenging target that will require a consistent effort on the part of all stakeholders.
IOM will soon begin a collaborative project with scientists at Imperial College in London to try to improve our knowledge of the occupational cancer burden in Britain.
Read the article at…http://annhyg.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/mem049?ijkey=HhpZmHcvRr1zhuR&keytype=ref