PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Berge, Leon Alexander Mclaren
AU  - Shala, Nita Kaupang
AU  - Barone-Adesi, Francesco
AU  - Hosgood, H Dean
AU  - Samuelsen, Sven Ove
AU  - Bråtveit, Magne
AU  - Kirkeleit, Jorunn
AU  - Silverman, Debra
AU  - Friesen, Melissa C
AU  - Babigumira, Ronnie
AU  - Grimsrud, Tom K
AU  - Veierød, Marit B
AU  - Stenehjem, Jo S
TI  - Exposure to fibres and risk of pleural mesothelioma in the Norwegian Offshore Petroleum Workers cohort
AID  - 10.1136/oemed-2024-109424
DP  - 2024 Jul 01
TA  - Occupational and Environmental Medicine
PG  - 331--338
VI  - 81
IP  - 7
4099  - http://oem.bmj.com/content/81/7/331.short
4100  - http://oem.bmj.com/content/81/7/331.full
SO  - Occup Environ Med2024 Jul 01; 81
AB  - Objectives Pleural mesothelioma is a rare respiratory cancer, mainly caused by inhalation of asbestos fibres. Other inorganic fibres are also suggested risk factors. We aimed to investigate the association between exposure to asbestos or refractory ceramic fibres (RCFs) and pleural mesothelioma among male Norwegian offshore petroleum workers.Methods Among 25 347 men in the Norwegian Offshore Petroleum Workers (NOPW) cohort (1965–1998), 43 pleural mesothelioma cases were identified through the Cancer Registry of Norway (1999–2022). A case–cohort study was conducted with 2095 randomly drawn non-cases from the cohort. Asbestos and RCF exposures were assessed with expert-made job-exposure matrices (JEMs). Weighted Cox regression was used to estimate HRs and 95% CIs, adjusted for age at baseline and pre-offshore employment with likely asbestos exposure.Results An increased risk of pleural mesothelioma was indicated for the highest versus lowest tertile of average intensity of asbestos (HR=1.21, 95% CI: 0.57 to 2.54). Pre-offshore asbestos exposure (vs no such exposure) was associated with increased risk of pleural mesothelioma (HR=2.06, 95% CI: 1.11 to 3.81). For offshore workers with no pre-offshore asbestos exposure, an increased risk of pleural mesothelioma was found for the highest tertile of average intensity of asbestos (HR=4.13, 95% CI: 0.93 to 18), versus the lowest tertile. No associations were found between RCF and pleural mesothelioma.Conclusions Associations between JEM-based offshore asbestos exposure and pleural mesothelioma were confirmed in the NOPW cohort. Pleural mesothelioma risk was also associated with asbestos exposure before work in the offshore petroleum industry.Data may be obtained from a third party and are not publicly available. The data are available as presented in the paper. According to Norwegian legislation, our approvals to use the data for the current study do not allow us to distribute or make the data directly available to other parties.