| Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Skin and Coal Tar Creosote Exposure in a Railroad Worker Chris Carlsten,1,2 Stephen Carl Hunt,1,2 and Joel D. Kaufman1,2 1Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, and 2Department of Medicine, Occupational and Environmental Medicine Program, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA Abstract
A 50-year-old male railroad worker presented to his primary care physician with an erythematous, tender skin lesion on the right knee ; a biopsy of this lesion revealed squamous cell carcinoma in situ. The site of the lesion was sun-protected but had been associated with 30 years of creosote-soaked clothing. In this article, we review dermal and other malignancies associated with creosote, along with creosote occupational exposures and exposure limits. This is a unique case, given the lack of other, potentially confounding, polyaromatic hydrocarbons and the sun-protected location of the lesion. Key words: carcinoma, coal tar, creosote, environmental, exposure, occupational, railroad, squamous cell. Environ Health Perspect 113:96-97 (2005) . doi:10.1289/ehp.7373 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 22 November 2004]
Address correspondence to C. Carlsten, Pulmonary, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Campus Box 359739, University of Washington, 1959 Pacific St., Seattle, WA 98195 USA. Telephone: (206) 541-0704. Fax: (206) 328-4352. E-mail: carlsten@u.washington.edu The authors declare they have no competing financial interests. Received 1 July 2004 ; accepted 22 November 2004.
The full version of this article is available for free in HTML or PDF formats. |
