Asbestos exposure increases the risk of lung cancer in smokers by a factor greater than the sum of the risks of independent exposure. Furthermore, there is evidence that the interactive effects of tobacco smoke and workplace pollutants contribute to lung cancer among coke oven workers and gas workers, to pancreatic cancer in refinery workers and to bladder cancer in groups such as janitors and cleaners, mechanics, mining machine operators, printing machine operators and workers in the metal mining industry. Rubber workers face an increased risk of pulmonary disability when exposed to occupational particulates and smoking combined. Socio-economic Status and Smoking Canadian research on the relationship between different occupations and the risk of smoking is limited. However, these descriptive studies nonetheless reveal striking variations in smoking behaviour by socio-economic status.
Occupation is a key indicator of socio-economic status.
It is therefore essential to examine the complex set of economic, environmental, social and cultural factors that underlie smoking as a class-based behaviour. Ethnic and cultural factors also influence smoking prevalence and can interact with socio-economic status. While it is beyond the scope of this report to examine such factors, suffice it to say that from the perspective of worksite smoking policy development, it is important to understand how the ethnic composition of a specific workforce may influence smoking attitudes and behaviour. ETS Policy Implications For many industrial workers, tobacco smoking is but one of the serious health risks they face regularly on their jobs. This information could be used in occupational health campaigns designed to reduce smoking, but success will depend on more than just identifying smoking per se as the major problem.