ArticleAnnals of occupational and environmental medicine2018
Does formaldehyde have a causal association with nasopharyngeal cancer and leukaemia?
Article in Annals of occupational and environmental medicine, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 36 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Genetic polymorphisms ofMolecular biology research communications · 2026Article
- Antioxidants as Protection against Reactive Oxygen Stress Induced by Formaldehyde (FA) Exposure: A Systematic Review.Biomedicines · 2024Review
- Glioblastoma in a paper industry worker exposed to high concentrations of formaldehyde: a case report.Annals of occupational and environmental medicine · 2024Article
- Regional and national burden of leukemia and its attributable burden to risk factors in 21 countries and territories of North Africa and Middle East, 1990-2019: results from the GBD study 2019.Journal of cancer research and clinical oncology · 2023Article
- Gold nanoparticle-based optical nanosensors for food and health safety monitoring: recent advances and future perspectives.RSC advances · 2022Review
- Validation of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 for Screening Depressive Disorders among Korean Employees: A Longitudinal Study of the National Health Examination Data.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Formaldehyde exposure and leukemia risk: a comprehensive review and network-based toxicogenomic approach.Genes and environment : the official journal of the Japanese Environmental Mutagen Society · 2021Review
- Formaldehyde Exposure and Acute Myeloid Leukemia: A Review of the Literature.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2019Review
- New insights into the mortality risk from nasopharyngeal cancer in the national cancer institute formaldehyde worker cohort study.Journal of occupational medicine and toxicology (London, England) · 2019Article
- Changes in Work Practices for Safe Use of Formaldehyde in a University-Based Anatomy Teaching and Research Facility.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe South Korean criteria for occupational diseases were amended in July 2013. These criteria included formaldehyde as a newly defined occupational carcinogen, based on cases of "leukemia or nasopharyngeal cancer caused by formaldehyde exposure". This inclusion was based on the Internal Agency for Research on Cancer classification, which classified formaldehyde as definite human carcinogen for nasopharyngeal cancer in 2004 and leukemia in 2012.
methodsWe reviewed reports regarding the causal relationship between occupational exposure to formaldehyde in Korea and the development of these cancers, in order to determine whether these cases were work-related.
resultsPrevious reports regarding excess mortality from nasopharyngeal cancer caused by formaldehyde exposure seemed to be influenced by excess mortality from a single plant. The recent meta-risk for nasopharyngeal cancer was significantly increased in case-control studies, but was null for cohort studies (excluding unexplained clusters of nasopharyngeal cancers). A recent analysis of the largest industrial cohort revealed elevated risks of both leukemia and Hodgkin lymphoma at the peak formaldehyde exposure, and both cancers exhibited significant dose-response relationships. A nested case-control study of embalmers revealed that mortality from myeloid leukemia increased significantly with increasing numbers of embalms and with increasing formaldehyde exposure. The recent meta-risks for all leukemia and myeloid leukemia increased significantly. In South Korea, a few cases were considered occupational cancers as a result of mixed exposures to various chemicals (e.g., benzene), although no cases were compensated for formaldehyde exposure. The peak formaldehyde exposure levels in Korea were 2.70-14.8 ppm in a small number of specialized studies, which considered anatomy students, endoscopy employees who handled biopsy specimens, and manufacturing workers who were exposed to high temperatures.
conclusionAdditional evidence is needed to confirm the relationship between formaldehyde exposure and nasopharyngeal cancer. All lymphohematopoietic malignancies, including leukemia, should be considered in cases with occupational formaldehyde exposure.
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