| Abstract |
Testimony concerned the efforts of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in the area of cancer and respiratory disease. The number of recognized occupational carcinogenic substances was long and continued to grow. The effort to identify these hazardous elements in the work place was complex as many of the agents work in concert with others. The long latency period of cancer in the human body has prevented us from knowing the real prevalence of work related cases of the disease. Very high levels of production of many of these toxic chemicals have only occurred since the 1960s. Workers are also at risk of contracting a wide variety of nonmalignant occupational diseases and disorders such as respiratory disease. Inhalation was by far the most important route of industrial substances entry into the worker's body. Such inhalation could result in irritation, inflammation, allergic reactions, edema, emphysema, fibrosis, or cancer. The most important nonmalignant occupational respiratory diseases included coal worker's pneumoconiosis, asbestosis, byssinosis, and silicosis. Offending agents include cotton dust, coal dust, asbestos (1332214) fibers, and silica (14808607) dust. Recent epidemiologic studies suggestive of a relationship between occupation and cancer were listed. |
