20 jobs that can increase your risk for cancer

Workers who use hot asphalt on roofs and roads may have an elevated risk for cancer, though researchers aren’t exactly sure why. The confusion is due to the workers drinking and smoking more than the average person, and they also get a lot more sun. However, researchers from the University of Colorado Cancer Center may have found a direct carcinogenic link. They discovered that roofers and other professions that use hot tar have high levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in their blood after their shifts; PAHs damage DNA and potentially increase cancer risk. Workers who failed to wear protective gloves or experienced burns had the highest levels.

If you have this mark on your nail, be sure to be checked for cancer. 

While the occasional hair dye or perm doesn’t carry much risk for the average person, the story changes for the worker who does hair treatments on a regular basis. The aromatic amines in some hair dyes may put hairdressers at an increased risk for bladder cancer. While these chemicals were supposedly eliminated from hair dyes after the 1970s, a recent study found them present in hairdressers’ bloodstreams, prompting a call for further analysis. To minimise risk, salon workers should wear gloves whenever using chemical products and work in well-ventilated areas.

Sometimes a dangerous profession is due to an unlucky mix of risk factors – which is the case for some female lab workers. A study published in the journal Cancer Research discovered that women with a familial history of breast cancer doubled their risk by working in a clinical lab; if the women worked with organic solvents such as benzene before having their first baby, their risk jumped another 40 percent. The researchers also found an increased risk with factory workers and house cleaners.

Once astronauts leave the Earth’s protective atmosphere and magnetic field, they are exposed to a significant and dangerous amount of ionising space radiation. This is similar to what airline pilots and flight attendants experience, but according to NASA, the levels are much higher – the equivalent of 150 to 6,000 chest X-rays. That puts astronauts at an increased risk of cancer, radiation sickness, degenerative bone diseases and conditions that target the central nervous system. Scientists from the University of Nevada–Las Vegas are now sounding the alarm about possible trips to Mars, which would involve a year and a half in deep space (to get there and back). Our current technology wouldn’t do much to protect astronauts – or tourists – from galactic cosmic radiation and its resulting cell mutations.

Working in factories that manufacture tires, rubber gloves, and rubber bands seems to raise the risk of bladder, stomach, blood, lymphatic and other cancers, according to the CDC. The carcinogens involved include benzenes and other solvents, asbestos and formaldehyde.

Plastic has been widely used around the world for decades, but people who work in plastic manufacturing are at higher risk for various types of cancer, including of the liver, kidney, blood, lung and larynx, because of chronic exposure to cadmium, vinyl chloride, trichloroethylene and arsenic, among other carcinogens. In addition, women in plastics manufacturing may be five times more likely to develop breast cancer because of exposure to carcinogens that disrupt hormones.

People who work in aluminium manufacturing are routinely exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, chromium compounds, nickel compounds, heavy metals, high static magnetic fields and asbestos. Formaldehyde is sometimes present in manufacturing processes as a breakdown of other ingredients, according to clean-living guru Sophia Gushee, author of A to Z of D-Toxing: The Ultimate Guide to Reducing Our Toxic Exposures. Dioxins are also formed unintentionally during chemical manufacturing as well as in vinyl and pesticide production.

Construction workers are at an increased risk of lung cancer and mesothelioma because of potential asbestos exposure, which is still found in older buildings. They’re also at higher risk for melanoma. Construction can expose workers to benzene (found in paint supplies), which has been linked to leukaemia and lymphoma, as well as arsenic. It’s found in motor vehicle exhaust, degreasing products, dyes, furniture wax, glues, lubricants and paints and can raise the risk of bladder, liver and lung cancers.

Auto mechanics are exposed to many of the same carcinogens as construction workers (arsenic, asbestos, benzene) as well as to tetrachloroethylene (also known as “perc”), which acts as a grease solvent and has been associated with oesophageal, kidney, bladder and cervical cancers, among others. In addition, diesel exhaust is carcinogenic, raising the risk of lung, bladder, larynx, oesophageal and stomach cancers.

Speaking of perc, tetrachloroethylene is also used in dry cleaning, so workers in this industry, like auto workers, face an increased cancer risk. You’ll be relieved to hear that perc is not considered hazardous to those who wear dry-cleaned clothing.