IJPDS Semantic-based Privacy-preserving Record Linkage. IJPDS 2399-4908 Swansea University 10.23889/ijpds.v7i3.1977 7:03:198 Impacts of past occupational injury and long-duration compensated work disability on future hospital admissions. Di Law Hsei 1 Armstrong Bruce 1 D'Este Catherine 1 Hosking Rose 1 Smurthwaite Kayla 1 Trevenar Susan 1 Lazarevic Nina 1 Kirk Martyn 1 Korda Rosemary 1 Australian National University The University of Western Australia Sax Institute 092022 2022 7 3 1977 This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. This article is available from the IJPDS website at: https://ijpds.org/article/view/1977 Objectives

The use of firefighting foam containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) has resulted in environmental contamination in three Australian communities. We examined whether people who had lived in these communities had higher rates of selected cancers and causes of deaths than those who had lived in comparison areas without known contamination.

 Approach

The three exposure areas of interest were in Katherine (NT), Oakey (Qld) and Williamtown (NSW). We identified those who ever lived in exposure areas by linking street addresses in these areas to addresses collected in Medicare (1983-2019)—a consumer directory for Australia’s universal healthcare system. We also identified a sample of those who had lived in selected comparison areas. Exposed and comparison populations were then linked to Australia’s national cancer and death registries. We estimated standardised incidence ratios (SIRs) for 23 cancers, four causes of death and three control outcomes, adjusting for sex, age and calendar time of diagnosis.

 Results

We observed higher rates of prostate cancer (SIR = 1·76, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1·36–2·24) in Katherine; laryngeal cancer (SIR = 2·71, 95% CI 1·30–4·98), kidney cancer (SIR = 1·82, 95% CI 1·04–2·96) and coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality (SIR = 1·81, 95% CI 1·46–2·33) in Oakey; and lung cancer (SIR = 1·83, 95% CI 1·39–2·38) and CHD mortality (SIR = 1·22, 95% CI 1·01–1·47) in Williamtown. We also saw elevated SIRs for control outcomes—outcomes not known or thought to be associated with PFAS exposure. SIRs for all other outcomes and overall cancer were similar across exposure and comparison areas.

 Conclusion

There was limited evidence to support an association between PFAS exposure and risk of cancer. There was modest evidence of an association with CHD mortality, which merits further study given the links between PFAS and elevated blood lipids.