Occupational exposure to petroleum-based and oxygenated solvents and hypopharyngeal and laryngeal cancer in France: the ICARE study

BACKGROUND: To examine associations between occupational exposure to petroleum-based and oxygenated solvents and the risk of hypopharyngeal and laryngeal cancer. METHODS: ICARE is a large, frequency-matched population-based case-control study conducted in France. Lifetime occupational history, tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption were collected. Analyses were restricted to men and included 383 cases of hypopharyngeal cancer, 454 cases of laryngeal cancer, and 2780 controls. Job–exposure matrices were used to assess exposure to five petroleum-based solvents (benzene; gasoline; white spirits; diesel, fuels and kerosene; special petroleum products) and to five oxygenated solvents (alcohols; ketones and esters; ethylene glycol; diethyl ether; tetrahydrofuran). Odds ratios (ORs) adjusted for smoking, alcohol drinking and other potential confounders and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated with unconditional logistic models. RESULTS: No significant association was found between hypopharyngeal or laryngeal cancer risk and exposure to the solvents under study. Non-significantly elevated risks of hypopharyngeal cancer were found in men exposed to high cumulative levels of white spirits (OR = 1.46; 95% CI: 0.88–2.43) and tetrahydrofuran (OR = 2.63; 95CI%: 0.55–12.65), with some indication of a dose-response relationship (p for trend: 0.09 and 0.07 respectively). CONCLUSION: This study provides weak evidence for an association between hypopharyngeal cancer and exposure to white spirits and tetrahydrofuran, and overall does not suggest a substantial role of exposure to petroleum-based or oxygenated solvents in hypopharyngeal or laryngeal cancer risk. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12885-018-4324-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.