From the start of 2020, employers in Finland will have a greater responsibility to notify workers of carcinogenic substances. Health officials are expanding a list of potentially carcinogenic substances to include 22 new compounds, including formaldehyde, wood dust and silicone dioxide.
In Finland, asbestos-related lung cancer is most prevalent in the male-dominated construction sector, also putting plumbers, machine shop and metal workers at risk, according to the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health.
Employers will be obligated to inform workers of all cancer-causing substances, compounds and working methods. The new rules will bring Finland one step closer to harmonisation with EU guidelines.
Slow and silent killer
Data from the Finnish Cancer Registry shows the greatest work-related cancer correlation between asbestos exposure and mesothelioma, a cancer often attacking the lining of the lungs. Finnish researchers have also indicated a connection between nose cancer and wood dust.
Asbestos-related lung cancer in Finland is most common among people building and repairing airplanes, trains and airplanes.
In addition to asbestos, other main carcinogenic substances include quartz dust, which occurs in any work involving the processing of stone substances, and diesel engine exhaust, according to the health watchdog.
Most work-related cancer in Finland today stems from exposure that occurred decades ago. Between the 1960s and 1980s building materials containing asbestos were widely used. At the time construction workers did not take any precautionary measures.
Kirsi Koskela from the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health said some forms of work-related cancer can take 50 years to develop.
She said large companies have become generally better at protecting workers than small firms.
Sitting is bad, too
Eero Pukkala, outgoing research director from the Finnish Cancer Registry, said sedentary office workers are also at risk of developing cancer, including bowel and uterine forms of the disease.
“Exercise is a form of prevention,” he said.
Over time, women’s risk for developing breast cancer grows if they remain childless. Alcohol is meanwhile a particular risk factor for men working in the hospitality industry, especially if they also smoke.
Last month, Finland signed on to a European-wide Roadmap on Carcinogens initiative, which aims to reduce workers’ exposure to carcinogens.
Across the EU, some 80,000 people succumb to work-related cancer every year.