TABLE 4 : Classification of Occupational Carciogens

Agents

Affected Organs

Incubation Period (years)

Risk Ratio

Occupation

ORGANIC AGENTS

a. Aromatic hydrocarbons

Coal soot, coal tar, other products of coal combustion

Lung, larynx, skin, scrotum, urinary bladder

9-23

2-6

Gashouse workers, stokers, and producers; asphalt, coal tar, and pitch workers; coke-oven workers; miners; still cleaners; chimney sweeps

Petroleum, petroleum coke, wax, creosote, anthracene, paraffin, shale, mineral oils

Nasal cavity, larynx, lung, skin, scrotum

12-30

2-4

Contact with lubricating, cooling, paraffin or wax; fuel oils, or coke; rubber fillers, retort men, textile weavers, diesel jet testers

Benzene

Bone marrow (leukemia)

6-14

2-3

Explosives; benzene, or rubber cement workers, distillers, dye users, painters, shoemakers

Aura mine, benzidine,
naphthylamine, naphthylamine, magenta, 4-aminodiphenyl,
4-nitrodiphenyl

Urinary bladder

13-30

2-90

Dyestuffs manufacturers and users; rubber workers (pressmen, filter men, labourers); textile dyers; paint manufactures

b. Alkylating agents

Mustard gas

Larynx, lung trachea, bronchi

10-25

2-36

Mustard gas workers

c. Others

Isopropyl oil

Nasal cavity

10+

21

Producers

Vinyl chloride

Liver (angiosarcoma), brain

20-30

200 (liver)

4 brain

Plastic workers

Bis (chloromethyl) ether, chloromethyl methyl ether

Lung (oat cell carcinoma)

5+

7-45

Chemical workers

Agents

Affected Organs

Incubation Period (Years)

Risk Ratio

Occupation

INORGANIC AGENTS

a. Metals

Arsenic

Skin, lung, liver

10+

3-8

Miners, smelters, insecticide makers and sprayers, tanners, chemical workers, oil refineries, vintners

Chromium

Nasal cavity sinuses

15-25

3-40

Producers, processors, and users; acetylene and aniline workers; bleachers, glass, pottery, and linoleum workers; battery makers

Iron oxide

Lung, larynx

__

2-5

Iron ore (hematite) miners, metal grinders and publishers; silver finishers; iron foundry workers

Nickel

Nasal sinuses, lung

3-30

5-10 (lung) 100-(nasal sinuses)

Nickel smelters, mixers, and roasters; electrolysis workers

b. Fiber

Asbestos

Lung, pleural and peritoneal meso-thelioma

4-50

1.5-12

Miners, millers, textile insulation, and shipyard workers

c. Dusts

Wood

Nasal cavity and sinuses

30-40

_

Woodworkers

Leather

Nasal cavity and sinuses, urinary bladder

40-50

50 (nasal sinuses) 2.5 (bladder)

Leather and shoe workers

Agents

Affected Organs

Incubation Period (Years)

Risk Ratio

Occupation

PHYSICAL AGENTS

a. Non ionizing radiation

Ultraviolet rays

Skin

Varies with skin pigment and texture

_

Farmers; sailors

b. Ionizing radiation

X-Rays

Skin, bone marrow (leukemia)

10-25

3-9

Radiologists; medical personnel

Uranium, radon, radium,mesothorium

Skin, lung, bone, marrow (leukemia)

10-15

3-10

Radiologists; miners; radium dial painters; radium chemists

c. Other

Hypoxia

Bone

__

__

Caisson workers

Source. Cole and Godman (1975)

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