Medical Hypotheses
Volume 55, Issue 5 , Pages 383-385 , November 2000

Reduced cancer rates in agricultural workers: a benefit of environmental and occupational endotoxin exposure

Received 22 September 1999 ,Accepted 6 January 2000.

References 

    REFERENCES
  1. Enterline PE, Sykora JL, Keleti G, Lange JH. Endotoxin, cotton dust and cancer. Lancet. 1985;2:934–935
  2. Levin LI, Gao T, Blot WJ, Zheng W, Fraumeni JF. Decreased risk of lung cancer in the cotton textile industry of Shanghai. Cancer Res. 1988;47:5777–5781
  3. Rylander R. Environmental exposures with decreased risks for lung cancer. International J Epidemiol. 1990;19:567–572
  4. Mastrangelo G, Marzia V, Marcer G. Reduced lung cancer mortality in dairy farmers: is endotoxin exposure the key factor?. Am J Ind Med. 1996;30:601–609
  5. Rapiti E, Sperati A, Fano V, Dell’orco V, Forastiere F. Mortality among workers at municipal waste incinerators in Rome: a retrospective cohort study. Am J Ind Med. 1997;31:659–661
  6. Schroeder JC, Tolbert PE, Eisen EA. Mortality of machining fluid exposure in the automobile industry IV: a case-control study of lung cancer. Am J Ind Med. 1997;31:525–533
  7. Tolbert PE, Eisen EA, Pothier LJ. Mortality studies of machining-fluid exposure in the automobile industry II: risks associated with specific fluid types. Scand J Work Environ Health. 1992;18:351–360
  8. Lange JH. Anticancer properties of inhaled cotton dust: a pilot experimental investigation. J Environ Sci Health B. 1992;27A:505–514
  9. Lange JH. An experimental study of anti-cancer properties of aerosolized endotoxin: application to human epidemiological studies. J Occup Med Toxicol. 1992;1:377–382
  10. Nativ O, Medalia O, Mor Y, Shajrawi I, Sabo E, Aronson M. Treatment of experimental mouse bladder tumour by LPS-induced epithelial cell shedding. Br J Cancer. 1996;74:603–605
  11. Morrison SC. Occupational mortality in Scotland. Br J Ind Med. 1957;14:130–137
  12. Blair A, Malken H, Cantor KP. Cancer among farmers. Scand J Work Environ Health. 1985;11:397–407
  13. Gallagher RP, Threlfall WJ, Jeffries E. Cancer and aplastic anemia in British Columbia farmers. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1984;72:1311–1315
  14. McMichael AJ, Hartshorne JM. Mortality risk in Australian men by occupational groups, 1968–1978: variations associated with differences in drinking and smoking habits. Med J Aust. 1982;1:253–256
  15. Stellman SD, Boffeta P, Garfinkel L. Smoking habits of 800,000 American men and women in relation to their occupations. Am J Ind Med. 1988;13:43–58
  16. Axelson O. Confounding from smoking in occupational epidemiology. Br J Ind Med. 1989;46:505–507
  17. Wen CP, Tsai SP, Gibson RL. Anatomy of the healthy worker effect: critical reviews. J Occup Med. 1983;25:283–289
  18. Lange JH, Talbott EO, Baffone KM. Antilung cancer activity of selenium. Med Hypotheses. 1997;23:443–447
  19. Gerhardsson L, Brune D, Nirberg IFG, Webster PO. Protective effect of selenium on lung cancer in smelter workers. Br J Ind Med. 1985;42:617–626
  20. Enstrom JE, Kanim LE, Klein MA. Vitamin C intake and mortality among a sample of the United States population. Epidemiology. 1992;3:194–202
  21. Hodgson JT, Jones RD. Mortality of workers in the British cotton industry in 1968–1984. Scand J Work, Environ Health. 1990;16:113–120
  22. Yu MC, Garabrant DH, Huang TB, Henderson BE. Occupational and other non-dietary risk factors for nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Guangzhou, China. Int J Cancer. 1990;45:1033–1039
  23. Forman MR, Graubard BI, McAdams M, Mao BL, Taylor PR. The effect of dietary intake of fruit and vegetables on the odds ratio of lung cancer among Yunnan tin miners. Int J Epidemiol. 1992;21:437–441
  24. Delucca AJ, Palmgren MS. Seasonal variation in anerobic bacterial populations and endotoxin concentrations in grain dust. Am Ind Hyg Assoc J. 1987;48:106–110
  25. Dutkiewicz J. Microbial hazards in plants processing grain and herbs. Am J Ind Med. 1986;10:300–302
  26. Olenchock SA, May JJ, Pratt DS, Morey PR. Endotoxin in agricultural environments. Am J Ind Med. 1986;10:323–324
  27. Hagmar L, Schutz A, Hallberg T, Sjoholm A. Health effects of exposure to endotoxins and organic dust in poultry slaughter-house workers. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 1990;62:159–164
  28. Vinzents P, Nielsen BH. Variations in exposures to dust and endotoxin in Danish piggeries. Am Ind Hyg Assoc J. 1992;53:237–241
  29. Clark CS, Rylander R, Larsson L. Levels of gram-negative bacteria, Aspergillus fumigatus, dust, and endotoxin at compost plants. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1983;45:1501–1505
  30. Rask-Anderson A, Malmberg P, Lundholm M. Endotoxin levels in farming: absence of symptoms despite high exposure levels. Br J Ind Med. 1989;46:412–416
  31. Olenchock SA, May JJ, Pratt DS, Morey PR, Watson SW, Levin J, et al. Occupational exposures to airborne endotoxins in agriculture. Detection of Bacterial Endotoxins with Limulus Amebocyte Lysate Test.. New York: Allan R Liss; 1980; p. 475–487
  32. Wolff SM. Biological effects of bacterial endotoxin in man. In:  Kass EH,  Wolff SM editor. Bacterial Lipopolysaccharides. Chicago: University of Chicago Press; 1973;p. 251–256
  33. Hofman J. Bacterial endotoxins. In:  Shier WT,  Mebs D editor. Handbook of Toxicology. New York: Marcel Dekker; 1990;p. 655–682
  34. Rudbach JA, Cantrell JL, Ulrich JT, Mitchell MS. In:  Friedman H,  Klein TW,  Nakano M,  Nowotny A editor. Immunotherapy with bacterial endotoxins.. New York: Plenum Press; 1990;p. 665–676
  35. Nakano Y, Shirai M, Mori N, Nakano M. Neutralization of microcystin shock in mice by tumor necrosis factor alpha antiserum. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1991;57:327–330
  36. Ryan LK, Karol MH. Release of tumor necrosis factor in guinea pigs upon acute inhalation of cotton dust. Am J Resp Cell Molec Biol. 1991;5:93–98
  37. McMichael AJ. Standardized mortality ratios and the healthy worker effect: scratching beneath the surface. Journal of Occupational Medicine. 1976;18:165–168

PII: S0306-9877(00)91072-7

doi: 10.1054/mehy.2000.1072

Medical Hypotheses
Volume 55, Issue 5 , Pages 383-385 , November 2000