Formaldehyde and leukemia: Epidemiology, potential mechanisms, and implications for risk assessment†
Corresponding Author
Luoping Zhang
School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California
School of Public Health, 50 University Hall, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-7356, USASearch for more papers by this authorLaura E. Beane Freeman
Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland
Search for more papers by this authorJun Nakamura
Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Search for more papers by this authorStephen S. Hecht
Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Search for more papers by this authorJohn J. Vandenberg
National Center for Environmental Assessment, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
Search for more papers by this authorMartyn T. Smith
School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California
Search for more papers by this authorBabasaheb R. Sonawane
National Center for Environmental Assessment, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington DC
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Luoping Zhang
School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California
School of Public Health, 50 University Hall, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-7356, USASearch for more papers by this authorLaura E. Beane Freeman
Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland
Search for more papers by this authorJun Nakamura
Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Search for more papers by this authorStephen S. Hecht
Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Search for more papers by this authorJohn J. Vandenberg
National Center for Environmental Assessment, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
Search for more papers by this authorMartyn T. Smith
School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California
Search for more papers by this authorBabasaheb R. Sonawane
National Center for Environmental Assessment, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington DC
Search for more papers by this authorThis article is a US Government work and, as such, is in the public domain in the United States of America.
Abstract
Formaldehyde is widely used in the United States and other countries. Occupational and environmental exposures to formaldehyde may be associated with an increased risk of leukemia in exposed individuals. However, risk assessment of formaldehyde and leukemia has been challenging due to inconsistencies in human and animal studies and the lack of a known mechanism for leukemia induction. Here, we provide a summary of the symposium at the Environmental Mutagen Society Meeting in 2008, which focused on the epidemiology of formaldehyde and leukemia, potential mechanisms, and implication for risk assessment, with emphasis on future directions in multidisciplinary formaldehyde research. Updated results of two of the three largest industrial cohort studies of formaldehyde-exposed workers have shown positive associations with leukemia, particularly myeloid leukemia, and a recent meta-analysis of studies to date supports this association. Recent mechanistic studies have shown the formation of formaldehyde-induced DNA adducts and characterized the essential DNA repair pathways that mitigate formaldehyde toxicity. The implications of the updated findings for the design of future studies to more effectively assess the risk of leukemia arising from formaldehyde exposure were discussed and specific recommendations were made. A toxicogenomic approach in experimental models and human exposure studies, together with the measurement of biomarkers of internal exposure, such as formaldehyde-DNA and protein adducts, should prove fruitful. It was recognized that increased communication among scientists who perform epidemiology, toxicology, biology, and risk assessment could enhance the design of future studies, which could ultimately reduce uncertainty in the risk assessment of formaldehyde and leukemia. Environ. Mol. Mutagen., 2010. Published 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
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