The association between occupational silica exposure and leukemia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies

Abstract Respirable crystalline silica is a proven lung carcinogen, but there is limited information of the carcinogenic effects of silica on non-respiratory organs. We aimed to systematically review cohort studies and conduct a meta-analysis to explore the relationship between occupational exposure...

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Main Authors: Jiyuan Shao, Shengchun Wang, Hong Cheng, Pengfei Fu, Xin Zhang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2025-07-01
Series:BMC Public Health
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-025-23384-x
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author Jiyuan Shao
Shengchun Wang
Hong Cheng
Pengfei Fu
Xin Zhang
author_facet Jiyuan Shao
Shengchun Wang
Hong Cheng
Pengfei Fu
Xin Zhang
author_sort Jiyuan Shao
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Respirable crystalline silica is a proven lung carcinogen, but there is limited information of the carcinogenic effects of silica on non-respiratory organs. We aimed to systematically review cohort studies and conduct a meta-analysis to explore the relationship between occupational exposure to silica and the risk of leukemia development. We performed an exhaustive search across three databases (PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science) to identify pertinent cohort studies published since 1987. After removing duplicates and excluding irrelevant studies, 22 studies were included in our analysis. We utilized fixed-effects models in the implementation of our meta-analysis. The combined relative risk of leukemia associated with occupational silica exposure was determined to be 1.11 (95% CI: 0.93–1.33), with no significant differences observed across various industries, geographic regions, exposure periods, or study quality estimates. The present study based on cohort studies provide no evidence that occupational exposure to silica does increase the risk of leukemia.
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spelling doaj-art-a9f95f17a51e4f3e819b82951dc6f39a2025-08-20T03:04:11ZengBMCBMC Public Health1471-24582025-07-0125111010.1186/s12889-025-23384-xThe association between occupational silica exposure and leukemia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studiesJiyuan Shao0Shengchun Wang1Hong Cheng2Pengfei Fu3Xin Zhang4Institute of Environmental Science, Shanxi UniversityInstitute of Environmental Science, Shanxi UniversityInstitute of Environmental Science, Shanxi UniversityFaculty of Health, York UniversityInstitute of Environmental Science, Shanxi UniversityAbstract Respirable crystalline silica is a proven lung carcinogen, but there is limited information of the carcinogenic effects of silica on non-respiratory organs. We aimed to systematically review cohort studies and conduct a meta-analysis to explore the relationship between occupational exposure to silica and the risk of leukemia development. We performed an exhaustive search across three databases (PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science) to identify pertinent cohort studies published since 1987. After removing duplicates and excluding irrelevant studies, 22 studies were included in our analysis. We utilized fixed-effects models in the implementation of our meta-analysis. The combined relative risk of leukemia associated with occupational silica exposure was determined to be 1.11 (95% CI: 0.93–1.33), with no significant differences observed across various industries, geographic regions, exposure periods, or study quality estimates. The present study based on cohort studies provide no evidence that occupational exposure to silica does increase the risk of leukemia.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-025-23384-xSilicaLeukemiaOccupational exposureMeta-analysis
spellingShingle Jiyuan Shao
Shengchun Wang
Hong Cheng
Pengfei Fu
Xin Zhang
The association between occupational silica exposure and leukemia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies
BMC Public Health
Silica
Leukemia
Occupational exposure
Meta-analysis
title The association between occupational silica exposure and leukemia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies
title_full The association between occupational silica exposure and leukemia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies
title_fullStr The association between occupational silica exposure and leukemia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies
title_full_unstemmed The association between occupational silica exposure and leukemia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies
title_short The association between occupational silica exposure and leukemia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies
title_sort association between occupational silica exposure and leukemia a systematic review and meta analysis of cohort studies
topic Silica
Leukemia
Occupational exposure
Meta-analysis
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-025-23384-x
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