
Harri VainioFinnish Institute of Occupational Health | FIOH · Director's office
Harri Vainio
MD, PhD
About
610
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Introduction
Additional affiliations
October 2015 - present
Faculty of Public Health, Kuwait University
Position
- Professor, Environmental and Occupational Health
July 1969 - June 1975
November 2003 - July 2015
Publications
Publications (610)
People are exposed throughout life to a wide range of environmental and occupational pollutants from different sources at home, in the workplace, or in the general environment. These exposures cannot normally be directly controlled by the individual. Several chemicals, metals, dusts, fibers, and occupations have been established to be causally asso...
We want to thank the Collegium Ramazzini for their (unsigned) comments on the 2014 update of the Helsinki criteria (1). The original Helsinki criteria (criteria) were published in 1997 (2). The Helsinki criteria updates of 2014 consisted of preparatory work in the form of reviews by four work groups on pre-selected topics (subject areas). This was...
In this issue of JAMA Oncology, Cumberbatch and colleagues1 present a systematic review of the evidence of contemporary occupational exposure to carcinogens and bladder cancer incidence and mortality risk, as well as a meta-analysis of risk estimates.Bladder cancer is the fourth most incident malignant neoplasm worldwide.2 In recent decades, incide...
Work matters. It can help improve your health, reduce health inequalities and offer improved opportunities. Due to changing demographics in many parts of the world, such as Japan, China and Western Europe, having more people in work is more important for communities and for our economy. The health and wellbeing of people of working age is therefore...
People are exposed throughout life to a wide range of environmental and occupational pollutants from different sources at home, in the workplace or in the general environment - exposures that normally cannot be directly controlled by the individual. Several chemicals, metals, dusts, fibres, and occupations have been established to be causally assoc...
Recently the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) Programme for the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans has been criticized for several of its evaluations, and also the approach used to perform these evaluations. Some critics have claimed that IARC Working Groups' failures to recognize study weaknesses and biases of Working Gro...
At the beginning of the 21st century, the world is still confronted with some well-recognized major occupational and environmental health hazards, such as the continuing use of asbestos fibers in various industrial products and processes. This in spite of authoritative statements from UN bodies (the World Health Organization, the International Labo...
Recent studies have suggested that statins, an established drug group in the prevention of cardiovascular mortality, could delay or prevent breast cancer recurrence but the effect on disease-specific mortality remains unclear. We evaluated risk of breast cancer death among statin users in a population-based cohort of breast cancer patients. The stu...
Background: Breast cancer is a common malignancy and cause of cancer death. Recent studies have suggested that statins, an established drug group in the prevention of cardiovascular mortality, could have beneficial effects against recurrence and progression of breast cancer. We evaluated breast cancer-specific and overall mortality among statin use...
Please check http://www.thecochranelibrary.com/details/editorial/4608821/Prevention-of-occupational-diseases-implementing-the-evidence.html
Pulmonary emphysema is a smoking-induced condition of the lung. Genetically determined differences in the activities of enzymes that metabolize oxidative agents are suspected to modify individual susceptibility to emphysema, as well as other smoking-related pulmonary disorders.
We investigated whether polymorphisms in selected xenobiotic-metabolizi...
The objective of this study was to determine whether genetic polymorphisms in enzymes that metabolise oxidative agents modify the individual susceptibility to developing asbestos and smoking-related pleuropulmonary changes.
Nine polymorphisms of six genes ( EPHX1 , GSTM1 , GSTM3 , GSTP1, GSTT1 and NAT2 ) were genotyped from 1,008 Finnish asbestos-e...
This work was undertaken to investigate the usefulness of diisocyanate-related protein adducts in blood samples as biomarkers of occupational exposure to toluene diisocyanate (TDI; 2,4- and 2,6-isomers) and 4,4'-methylenediphenyl diisocyanate (MDI). Quantification of adducts as toluene diamines (TDAs) and methylenedianiline (MDA) was performed on p...
The knowledge on the etiology of breast cancer has advanced substantially in recent years, and several etiological factors are now firmly established. However, very few new discoveries have been made in relation to occupational risk factors. The International Agency for Research on Cancer has evaluated over 900 different exposures or agents to-date...
To identify biomarkers for cancer in asbestosis patients.
SELDI-TOF and CART were used to identify serum biomarker profiles in 35 asbestosis patients who subsequently developed cancer and 35 did not develop cancer.
Three polypeptide peaks (5707.01, 6598.10, and 20,780.70 Da) could predict the development of cancer with 87% sensitivity and 70% speci...
Value-based economic analysis promotes efficiency in occupational health services
In Finland early retirement, sick-absenteeism and occupational injuries cause annual losses worth billions of euros. Research indicates that management of workers’ work ability is misallocated and insufficient and therefore is not based on optimal management practice...
Manufactured nanomaterials enable the promotion of nanotechnologies, i.e. the use of matter at nanoscale, and several revolutionary industrial and consumer applications. Nanomaterials have at least one dimension between 1 and 100 nm. Some of them may induce toxic effects in humans, even though most of the particles are most likely harmless, but the...
The "Towards Better Work and Well-being" conference, held in Helsinki in February 2010, was attended by 190 participants from 34 countries. During the Conference 12 keynote presentations and 57 oral and 47 poster communications were given. The conference was arranged by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health in cooperation with the Finnish Mi...
This paper provides an overview of and perspective on the concept of well-being at work. Well-being is a term that reflects not only on one's health but satisfaction with work and life. Well-being is a summative concept that characterizes the quality of working lives, including occupational safety and health (OSH) aspects, and it may be a major det...
As an observational science, epidemiology is regarded by some researchers as inherently flawed and open to false results. In a recent paper, Boffetta et al. [Boffetta P, McLaughlin JK, LaVecchia C, Tarone RE, Lipworth L, Blot WJ. False-positive results in cancer epidemiology: a plea for epistemological modesty. J Natl Cancer Inst 100:988-995 (2008)...
The effects of phenoxyacid herbicides 2,4-D (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid) and MCPA (4-chloro-2-methylphenoxyacetic acid), clofibrate, and glyphosate on hepatic and intestinal drug metabolizing enzyme activities were studied in rats intragastrically exposed for 2 weeks. The hepatic ethoxycoumarin O-deethylase activity increased about 2-fold with...
Various growth factors, including platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) and transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta, have been implicated in the pathogenesis of asbestos-induced disease. PDGF and TGF-beta levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays in the banked serum samples of a cohort of workers with asbestosis, and the relationsh...
Increasing numbers of workers are involved with the production, use, distribution, and disposal of nanomaterials. At the same time, there is a growing number of reports of adverse biological effects of engineered nanoparticles in test systems. It is useful, at this juncture, to identify critical questions that will help address knowledge gaps conce...
The aim of this systematic literature analysis was to study the association between leadership and well-being at work and work-related health. These intermediate outcomes are supposed to predict work-related loss of productivity and disability at work.
Original articles published in 1970 to 2005 were searched in MEDLINE and PsycINFO databases in a...
IntroductionTools for Risk IdentificationCarcinogens Identified So FarUse of Data on Mechanisms of ActionConclusions
A recent study in China concluded that the incidences of neurasthenia and of ultrasonographic abnormalities in the livers of vinyl chloride‐exposed workers increased with increasing cumulative exposure dose.1 This is an important finding, especially as the exposure to vinyl chloride studied was below the current Chinese permissible occupational lim...
In this chapter, we summarize the evidence about known and suspected occupational carcinogens and cancer risk in humans. We list the agents of mixture for which, according to the definitions from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), there is sufficient evidence for carcinogenicity in humans (Group 1), and the agents (mixture) tha...
We investigated the associations between two CYP1A1 polymorphisms (Ile462Val and Thr461Asn) and one CYP1B1 polymorphism (Leu432Val) and breast cancer risk. The study population consisted of 483 breast cancer patients and 482 healthy population controls, all of homogenous Finnish origin. No statistically significant overall associations were found b...
In order to survey changes and activities in the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-metabolizing enzymes implicated in lung cancer susceptibility studies, we investigated enzyme induction by 2–5-ring-sized ‘biomarker’ PAHs in rat liver and lung, and the activities in five human lung specimens. Naphthalene, phenanthrene, pyrene, chrysene, and ben...
The third edition of this book reviews the global burden of cancer, causes of cancer, and current priorities and future directions in cancer epidemiology and prevention research. The book maintains the structure of previous editions with seventy-two chapters organized into five major sections: Basic Concepts; The Magnitude of Cancer; The Causes of...
We investigated the roles of EPHX1 Tyr113His and His139Arg polymorphisms in lung cancer susceptibility in a Finnish study population comprising of 230 lung cancer cases and a large control group (n=2105). The controls were distributed into five age strata, which enabled us to examine the potential age-related changes in the putative EPHX1 at-risk g...
Our aim was to review the epidemiological literature on possible cancer-preventive effects of the consumption of fruits and vegetables in humans, to quantify the effect of high versus low consumption of fruits and vegetables, and to give an overall assessment of the existing evidence. We based our work on an expert meeting conducted by the Internat...
Xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes (XMEs) are important detoxifiers of hazardous environmental agents, and their polymorphisms may therefore modify the risk of environmentally induced cancers. Consequently, the XME polymorphisms have been extensively studied in this context during recent years. Particular attention has been given to the polymorphisms...
About five years ago, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) initiated a new program, IARC Handbooks of Cancer Prevention, aimed at evaluating the evidence base for the cancer-preventive activity of various agents and strategies. To date (2001) 5 volumes have been published—1. Non-steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs, 2. Carotenoids, 3...
Approaches Towards Assessment of Carcinogens/Anticarcinogens Abstract Diet and Cancer: Public Health Aspects Abstract Introduction Diet and cancer in the UK The nature of associations The epidemiological evidence Experimental evidence Drawing overall conclusions Diet and cancer – conclusions Conclusions Abstract Abstract Introduction Diet and cance...
Isothiocyanates (ITCs) are widely distributed in cruciferous vegetables and are biologically active against chemical carcinogenesis due to their ability to induce phase II conjugating enzymes. Among these is the glutathione-S-transferase (GST) family of enzymes, which in turn catalyzes the metabolism of ITCs, for which it has high substrate specifi...
SULT1A1 is involved in biotransformation of many endogenous and exogenous substrates, such as drugs, hormones and tobacco smoke carcinogens. A polymorphism in the sulfotransferase 1A1 gene (SULT1A1) results in an amino acid change from Arg to His at codon 213. The His allele (SULT1A1*2) has been shown to encode a protein with much lower catalytic a...
In this commentary, we briefly summarize and give examples of evaluations done by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, WHO (IARC-WHO, Lyon, France) about the identification of carcinogenic substances or agents and the evaluation of the efficacy and effectiveness of cancer preventive substances, agents or strategies. In the 1970's the IA...
N-acetyltransferase 2 (NAT2) is a polymorphic enzyme participating in the metabolism of numerous pharmaceutical drugs and carcinogens found in tobacco smoke and diet. The NAT2 gene is highly polymorphic and several different allelic variants exist that determine the acetylator phenotype. In the course of our case-control study, we developed a new m...
Because TP53 mutations can induce an immune response and can occur early in the carcinogenic process for some tumors, p53 autoantibodies may be useful biomarkers for risk of development of cancer. Using banked serum samples from an asbestosis cohort at high risk for cancer, we demonstrate for the first time a statistically significant relationship...
Isothiocyanates are sulfur-containing compounds which are largely responsible for the typical flavor of cruciferous vegetables. In animals and humans they are conjugated with glutathione; the first product of this reaction is a dithiocarbamate, which can be ultimately metabolized to the corresponding mercapturic acid, excreted in urine. Aliphatic a...
The prevalence of obesity at all ages is increasing epidemically worldwide. Information on the association between premenopausal breast cancer and body size during childhood and teenage years is scarce. In 1991 to 1992, a prospective cohort study was assembled in Norway and Sweden. We included in the analysis presented here 99,717 premenopausal wom...
This article summarizes arguments for building an evidence base for occupational health. Evidence is needed on the most effective ways of eliminating health hazards in the workplace and at work, enhancing healthy behavior or the empowerment of workers, and preventing and treating occupational diseases and occupational disability. An evidence base f...
The association between vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphisms and diseases such as breast cancer, prostate cancer and osteoporosis has been extensively investigated during recent years. To date, several polymorphisms have been found in the VDR gene. In this Finnish case-control study, comprising 483 breast cancer patients and 482 healthy popu...
Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and IGF-binding protein-1 and 3 (IGFPB-1, IGFPB-3) are expressed in normal and neoplastic endometrium. Their role and the role of insulin in the aetiology of endometrial cancer, is unclear. We performed a population-based case-control study in Sweden, including 288 endometrial cancer patients and 392 control wom...
Low alcohol consumption seems to decrease total mortality and to have beneficial properties on cardiovascular disease; data for cancer are still inconclusive. There is evidence that wine consumption decreases the risk of cancer at several sites, including cancer of upper digestive tract, lung, colon, basal cell carcinoma, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma....
A little dust has settled since last year's news from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) randomized trial about the use of combined hormone replacement therapy (HRT) during and after menopause: long-term use may increase a woman's chances of becoming chronically ill (Women's Health Initiative Investigators, 2002). In none of the three age-groups s...
Cancer prevention is fast emerging as a discipline with a promising potential. Chemoprevention has its rationale in the multistage process of carcinogenesis which provides an option for development of preventive approaches in the early, premalignant stages, before appearance of clinical symptoms. Evidence is mounting that the angiogenic switch may...
We studied associations between lifestyle/medical factors and lipid-adjusted serum concentrations of seven polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners and five chlorinated pesticides/metabolites among 205 Swedish women (54-75 years old). Serum concentrations were significantly associated with age, body mass index, body weight change, diabetes mellitus...
A cohort including all female workers born 1906 through 1945 (n = 413,877) in Finland was identified through the Population Census of Finland of 1970. Incident cases of cancers of the gastrointestinal tract were explored during 1971 to 1995. Job titles in census records were converted to exposures of 31 occupational agents through a job-exposure ma...
Colorectal cancer is an important public health problem: there are nearly one million cases of colorectal cancer diagnosed worldwide each year and half a million deaths. The geographic distribution of colorectal cancer follows the division between westernized versus developing countries, The highest rates are in North America, Australia and Europe....
The global incidence of cancer is soaring due to the rapidly aging populations in most countries. In 2000, there were ten million new cancer cases, six million cancer deaths, and 22 million people living with cancer (Parkin 2001). By the year 2020, there will be an estimated 20 million new cancer patients each year. Almost three quarters of them wi...
Although diabetes mellitus is associated with an increased risk of several malignancies, a negative association with prostate cancer is biologically most plausible. The epidemiologic evidence is, however, inconsistent, limited and based mostly on small studies. We present results from a large, population-based cohort study in Sweden, where we asses...
We present results from a large, population-based cohort study in Sweden, where we assessed ovarian cancer risk among patients hospitalized for diabetes mellitus.
The cohort was composed of patients identified in the Swedish In-Patient Register as having a hospital discharge diagnosis of diabetes mellitus in 1965-1994. The follow-up was done by lin...
Over the past few decades the proportion of people with excess body weight has been increasing in both developed and less developed countries. About 50% of men and 35% of women in Europe are currently estimated to be overweight or obese. In addition to an increase in the risk of cardiovascular disease and type II diabetes, the evidence summarised h...
The recent completion of the first draft of the human genome sequence and advances in technologies for genomic analysis are
generating tremendous opportunities for epidemiologic studies to evaluate the role of genetic variants in human disease. Many
methodological issues apply to the investigation of variation in the frequency of allelic variants o...
To evaluate the evidence for the role of weight control and physical activity in cancer prevention and to identify priorities for research and for public health action in relation to the primary prevention of cancer, an international working group of experts was convened in Lyon in February 2001 by the International Agency for Research on Cancer of...
We observed previously that polymorphisms in glutathione S-transferase (GST) genes modified allergic responses to diisocyanate exposure. Here, we extended the study to examine the possible role of N-acetyltransferase (NAT) genotypes in the development of diisocyanate-induced ill effects, both separately and in combination with the previously examin...
Ten million new cancer patients are diagnosed worldwide each year. There will be a dramatic increase over the next 20 years in the number of people contracting cancer, especially in the developing, poorer part of the world. Many types of cancer vary in incidence and mortality by more than an order of magnitude between different populations, and eve...
Overweight and obesity have reached epidemic dimensions worldwide, mainly due to consumption of high energy diets and increased sedentary behaviour. Overweight and insufficient physical activity are clearly associated with cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes. Evidence is also accumulating that they may also increase cancer risk, particularl...
Ten million new cancer patients are diagnosed each year worldwide. Many specific causes of cancer are known, ranging from factors related to lifestyle, diet and chronic infections to occupational exposures. Primary and secondary prevention continue to be of major importance in cancer control globally. The global burden of cancer, especially the par...
The incidence of endometrial cancer varies up to 10-fold between high- and low-incidence regions, suggesting the importance of environmental factors, including diet, in the etiology of this disease. However, few studies have examined the role of diet in the etiology of endometrial cancer. Using unconditional logistic regression to estimate odds rat...
The consumption of fatty fish, which contains large amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, may lower the risk of hormone-responsive cancers. Our aim was to study the association of fish consumption and endometrial cancer risk in Sweden, a country with a wide range of high fatty fish consumption. Using data from a large, nationwide case-control study (709...
Our previous studies suggested that both COMT and GST genotypes might modify individual breast cancer risk. Here, we extended the studies to examine the potential combined effect of these genotypes in susceptibility to breast cancer. Our study population consisted of 483 Finnish breast cancer cases and 482 population control subjects. The odds rati...
About five years ago, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) initiated a new program, IARC Handbooks of Cancer Prevention, aimed at evaluating the evidence base for the cancer-preventive activity of various agents and strategies. To date (2001) 5 volumes have been published--1. Non-steroidalAnti-inflammatory Drugs, 2. Carotenoids, 3...
The epidemiologic evidence and rodent studies suggest strongly that nonselective inhibitors of cyclooxygenase (COX) enzymes such as aspirin, inhibiting both COX-1 and COX-2 isoforms, reduce the incidence of and mortality from intestinal tumors. Genetically manipulated animals show that both Cox-1 and Cox-2 disruptions decrease the tumor yield, both...
Our previous studies suggested that both COMT and GST genotypes might modify individual breast cancer risk. Here, we extended the studies to examine the potential combined effect of these genotypes in susceptibility to breast cancer. Our study population consisted of 483 Finnish breast cancer cases and 482 population control subjects. The odds rati...