Cohort study of mortality and cancer incidence in UK oil refinery and petroleum distribution workers (1951-2016)

The University of Birmingham (UoB) is permitted to continue the processing and retention of data provided by NHS England (previously NHS Digital) under a previous iteration of this agreement for the purpose of the following research project: Cohort study of mortality and cancer incidence in UK oil refinery and petroleum distribution workers (1951-2016).

The following is a summary of the aims of the research programme provided by UOB:

''In the 1970s the Institute of Petroleum (IP) (now known as the Energy Institute (EI)) developed epidemiological cohort studies into the mortality and cancer morbidity experience of male employees from eight oil refineries and 476 petroleum distribution centres in the UK

The Energy Institute (EI) is the chartered professional membership body bringing global energy expertise together. It is an independent, not-for-profit, safe space for evidence-based collaboration, an honest broker between industry, academia and policy makers. A registered charity, incorporated by Royal Charter in 2003, the EI is licensed by the Engineering Council (UK) to offer Chartered, Incorporated and Engineering Technician status to engineers, the Science Council to award Chartered Scientist status, and also licensed by the Society for the Environment to award Chartered Environmentalist status. The EI was set up in 2003 as a result of a merger between the Institute of Petroleum (IP) and the Institute of Energy (InstE).

The objectives of this study are to summarise the available mortality and cancer incidence data in relation to the cohorts and to determine whether any part of this experience might be related to occupational exposures; in which event further analyses capable of investigating the potential role of occupational exposures might be needed.

UoB requires mortality and cancer registration data for use in the cohort mortality study of UK oil refinery and petroleum distribution workers. The cohort size is 55-60,000 participants. However, these are split geographically, so the size of the cohort in England is 35-40,000 (data for the remaining participants will be sought by UoB directly from Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland). The cohort details were previously held in identifying form by UoB, but UoB no longer hold identifying fields and now use pseudonymised data.

All these male employees had a minimum period of employment of 12 months in the period 1950-75, and incidence of death/cancer are being followed-up long-term.

The numbers of deaths and cancers identified in the cohort will be compared to deaths and cancers in the general population to identify whether there appears to be an excess risk of cancers (overall and by specific type of cancer) and deaths (overall and by specific cause) in the cohort when compared to the general population. Information on the rates of cancer/deaths in the general population does not require data from NHS England.

The findings of the study will help the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the EU Scientific Committee for Occupational Exposure Limits (SCOEL) in assessing whether current national and EU regulations provide adequate protection to workers exposed to benzene. The benefits of the work will be felt by current and future workers occupationally exposed to benzene, particularly in relation to risks of acute myeloid leukaemia and myelodysplastic syndrome (the latter has been suggested by others to be a major problem at low-level benzene exposure).

UoB is the data controller as the organisation responsible for ensuring that the data will only be processed for the purpose described above.

The legal basis under GDPR:

Article 6(1)(e) Public task : processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller.

Article 9(2)(j): Processing is necessary for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes in accordance with Article 89(1) based on Union or Member State law which shall be proportionate to the aim pursued, respect the essence of the right to data protection and provide for suitable and specific measures to safeguard the fundamental rights and the interests of the data subject.

This processing is in the public interest because it adheres to the UK Policy Framework for Health and Social Care Research and aims to produce generalisable and publicly available information to inform future decisions over patients’ treatments or care.

The funding is provided by the Energy Institute. The funding is specifically for the study described. Funding is in place until 30th April 2024. In accordance with the technical project specification, the Energy Institute will not have influence on the outcomes nor suppress any of the findings of the research.

Data will be accessed by an individual with an honorary contract with UoB. The individual, who will be supporting the data analysis, originally worked at UoB but has since moved to NHS England.

With the funding from the Energy Institute (http://www.energyinst.org, registered charity number: 1097899) the research team at the University of Birmingham undertook a series of statistical analyses and updated cancer incidence and mortality notifications for a UK cohort of oil refinery and petroleum workers. Previously published work on this cohort used cancer and death registrations to the end of 2011.

The research team produced tables of mortality (1951-2016) and cancer incidence (1971-2015) for oil refinery workers and petroleum distribution workers separately. Separate reports on mortality and cancer incidence were produced for the Energy Institute, looking at oil refinery workers and petroleum distribution workers, taking account of an additional four years of follow-up with regard to cancer and five years of follow-up with regard to death.

The final reports were submitted to the Energy Institute in May 2021. The Energy Institute plan to publish the reports and make them available in the public domain by early 2023.

The research team plan to review, and potentially extend, the analyses undertaken so far with a view to publishing updated study findings (on cancer incidence and mortality) in medical peer-reviewed journals that specialise in Occupational Health. No additional data will be requested. The team plan to use the additional follow-up with regard to cancer and mortality investigate if this particular cohort are at an increased risk, compared to the general population, of specific types of deaths and specific types of cancers. The research team expect to produce at least one manuscript based on the cancer and death registrations for the oil refinery and the petroleum distribution workers. The results will be published in a peer-reviewed, open access journal which will be accessible by the general public, academics and regulatory authorities.

It is hoped that the manuscript(s) will be submitted for publication by the end of April 2024.

The final reports and publication(s) in medical journals will also be used by policy makers. The findings of the study will help the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the EU Scientific Committee for Occupational Exposure Limits (SCOEL) in assessing whether current national and EU regulations provide adequate protection to workers exposed to benzene. This is an on-going review process and copies of the study reports will be sent to both organisations.

The outputs will not contain NHS England data and will only contain aggregated information with small numbers suppressed as appropriate in line with the relevant disclosure rules for the dataset(s) from which the information was derived.

A previous analysis and publication from this study (Tom Sorahan, 2007. https://doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kql168) found clear evidence of an occupational cancer hazard for mesothelioma in oil refinery workers and it was present in all periods of follow-up. This was unexpected given that asbestos was only present as a ‘background’ exposure and provided further evidence that asbestos is a highly potent carcinogen.

An international pooled study by Schnatter et al (https://doi.org/10.1093/jnci/djs411) suggested that low-level benzene exposure might be an important risk factor for myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). The previous analysis of the UK oil refinery and petroleum distribution workers cohort (to 2011) provided no support for this hypothesis (Tom Sorahan and Nuredin Mohammed, 2016. DOI:10.3390/ijerph13050474); as no convincing evidence of occupational cases of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) from benzene exposure was seen. An update on the cohort analysis may update the knowledge in this field of research in particular for benzene exposure and incidental exposure to asbestos in the refineries. The findings may provide an up-to-date assessment of cancer risks in the cohort of UK oil industry workers hired in the period 1946-74. If there is no evidence of an excess of acute myeloid leukaemia it will be safe to assume that more recent hires will not have been influenced by the even lower levels of benzene found in recent years.

Please note the previous publications which have been available to academics, industry, regulatory bodies and the general public:

Rushton, L. and M. Alderson, An epidemiological survey of eight oil refineries in Britain. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 1981. 38(3): p. 225-234.

2. Rushton, L. and M. Alderson, Epidemiological survey of oil distribution centres in Britain. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 1983. 40(3): p. 330-339.

3. Rushton, L., Further follow up of mortality in a United Kingdom oil refinery cohort. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 1993. 50(6): p. 549-560.

4. Rushton, L., Further follow up of mortality in a United Kingdom oil distribution centre cohort. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 1993. 50(6): p. 561-569.

5. Sorahan, T., Mortality of UK oil refinery and petroleum distribution workers, 1951–2003. Occupational Medicine, 2007. 57(3): p. 177-185.

6. Sorahan, T., L. Nichols, and J. Harrington, Mortality of United Kingdom oil refinery and petroleum distribution workers, 1951–1998. Occupational Medicine, 2002. 52(6): p. 333-339.

7. Energy Institute, An investigation of mortality and cancer incidence in United Kingdom petroleum distribution workers 1951-2011. 2016.

8. Energy Institute, An investigation of mortality and cancer incidence in United Kingdom oil refinery workers 1951-2011. 2016.

The original deadline for submission of the final reports to the Energy Institute was extended due to delays and constraints involved to re-start the project and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the priorities of stakeholders, including obtaining the additional cancer and mortality data form NHS England and undertaking the analyses required to produce the reports.

03/04/2025 - Update

No further yielded benefits have been identified since the previous iteration of the DSA. The reason for this extension request is to complete a manuscript which will add to the knowledge base on risks of cancer and mortality due to working exposure to carcinogens identified, such as asbestos and benzene. If increased risks are identified it would be expected that action will be taken by companies to reduce further risks and aid surveillance among workers for cancer symptoms. Also the results published will continue to assist the regulatory agencies IARC, HSE and SCOEL in classifying chemicals that are carcinogenic to humans and setting appropriate occupational hygiene standards in the current workplace.

The University of Birmingham (UoB) is permitted to continue the processing and retention of data provided by NHS England (previously NHS Digital) under a previous iteration of this agreement for the purpose of the following research project: Cohort study of mortality and cancer incidence in UK oil refinery and petroleum distribution workers (1951-2016).

The following is a summary of the aims of the research programme provided by UOB:

''In the 1970s the Institute of Petroleum (IP) (now known as the Energy Institute (EI)) developed epidemiological cohort studies into the mortality and cancer morbidity experience of male employees from eight oil refineries and 476 petroleum distribution centres in the UK

The Energy Institute (EI) is the chartered professional membership body bringing global energy expertise together. It is an independent, not-for-profit, safe space for evidence-based collaboration, an honest broker between industry, academia and policy makers. A registered charity, incorporated by Royal Charter in 2003, the EI is licensed by the Engineering Council (UK) to offer Chartered, Incorporated and Engineering Technician status to engineers, the Science Council to award Chartered Scientist status, and also licensed by the Society for the Environment to award Chartered Environmentalist status. The EI was set up in 2003 as a result of a merger between the Institute of Petroleum (IP) and the Institute of Energy (InstE).

The objectives of this study are to summarise the available mortality and cancer incidence data in relation to the cohorts and to determine whether any part of this experience might be related to occupational exposures; in which event further analyses capable of investigating the potential role of occupational exposures might be needed.

UoB requires mortality and cancer registration data for use in the cohort mortality study of UK oil refinery and petroleum distribution workers. The cohort size is 55-60,000 participants. However, these are split geographically, so the size of the cohort in England is 35-40,000 (data for the remaining participants will be sought by UoB directly from Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland). The cohort details were previously held in identifying form by UoB, but UoB no longer hold identifying fields and now use pseudonymised data.

All these male employees had a minimum period of employment of 12 months in the period 1950-75, and incidence of death/cancer are being followed-up long-term.

The numbers of deaths and cancers identified in the cohort will be compared to deaths and cancers in the general population to identify whether there appears to be an excess risk of cancers (overall and by specific type of cancer) and deaths (overall and by specific cause) in the cohort when compared to the general population. Information on the rates of cancer/deaths in the general population does not require data from NHS England.

The findings of the study will help the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the EU Scientific Committee for Occupational Exposure Limits (SCOEL) in assessing whether current national and EU regulations provide adequate protection to workers exposed to benzene. The benefits of the work will be felt by current and future workers occupationally exposed to benzene, particularly in relation to risks of acute myeloid leukaemia and myelodysplastic syndrome (the latter has been suggested by others to be a major problem at low-level benzene exposure).

UoB is the data controller as the organisation responsible for ensuring that the data will only be processed for the purpose described above.

The legal basis under GDPR:

Article 6(1)(e) Public task : processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller.

Article 9(2)(j): Processing is necessary for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes in accordance with Article 89(1) based on Union or Member State law which shall be proportionate to the aim pursued, respect the essence of the right to data protection and provide for suitable and specific measures to safeguard the fundamental rights and the interests of the data subject.

This processing is in the public interest because it adheres to the UK Policy Framework for Health and Social Care Research and aims to produce generalisable and publicly available information to inform future decisions over patients’ treatments or care.

The funding is provided by the Energy Institute. The funding is specifically for the study described. Funding is in place until 30th April 2024. In accordance with the technical project specification, the Energy Institute will not have influence on the outcomes nor suppress any of the findings of the research.

Data will be accessed by an individual with an honorary contract with UoB. The individual, who will be supporting the data analysis, originally worked at UoB but has since moved to NHS England.

With the funding from the Energy Institute (http://www.energyinst.org, registered charity number: 1097899) the research team at the University of Birmingham undertook a series of statistical analyses and updated cancer incidence and mortality notifications for a UK cohort of oil refinery and petroleum workers. Previously published work on this cohort used cancer and death registrations to the end of 2011.

The research team produced tables of mortality (1951-2016) and cancer incidence (1971-2015) for oil refinery workers and petroleum distribution workers separately. Separate reports on mortality and cancer incidence were produced for the Energy Institute, looking at oil refinery workers and petroleum distribution workers, taking account of an additional four years of follow-up with regard to cancer and five years of follow-up with regard to death.

The final reports were submitted to the Energy Institute in May 2021. The Energy Institute plan to publish the reports and make them available in the public domain by early 2023.

The research team plan to review, and potentially extend, the analyses undertaken so far with a view to publishing updated study findings (on cancer incidence and mortality) in medical peer-reviewed journals that specialise in Occupational Health. No additional data will be requested. The team plan to use the additional follow-up with regard to cancer and mortality investigate if this particular cohort are at an increased risk, compared to the general population, of specific types of deaths and specific types of cancers. The research team expect to produce at least one manuscript based on the cancer and death registrations for the oil refinery and the petroleum distribution workers. The results will be published in a peer-reviewed, open access journal which will be accessible by the general public, academics and regulatory authorities.

It is hoped that the manuscript(s) will be submitted for publication by the end of April 2024.

The final reports and publication(s) in medical journals will also be used by policy makers. The findings of the study will help the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the EU Scientific Committee for Occupational Exposure Limits (SCOEL) in assessing whether current national and EU regulations provide adequate protection to workers exposed to benzene. This is an on-going review process and copies of the study reports will be sent to both organisations.

The outputs will not contain NHS England data and will only contain aggregated information with small numbers suppressed as appropriate in line with the relevant disclosure rules for the dataset(s) from which the information was derived.

A previous analysis and publication from this study (Tom Sorahan, 2007. https://doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kql168) found clear evidence of an occupational cancer hazard for mesothelioma in oil refinery workers and it was present in all periods of follow-up. This was unexpected given that asbestos was only present as a ‘background’ exposure and provided further evidence that asbestos is a highly potent carcinogen.

An international pooled study by Schnatter et al (https://doi.org/10.1093/jnci/djs411) suggested that low-level benzene exposure might be an important risk factor for myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). The previous analysis of the UK oil refinery and petroleum distribution workers cohort (to 2011) provided no support for this hypothesis (Tom Sorahan and Nuredin Mohammed, 2016. DOI:10.3390/ijerph13050474); as no convincing evidence of occupational cases of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) from benzene exposure was seen. An update on the cohort analysis may update the knowledge in this field of research in particular for benzene exposure and incidental exposure to asbestos in the refineries. The findings may provide an up-to-date assessment of cancer risks in the cohort of UK oil industry workers hired in the period 1946-74. If there is no evidence of an excess of acute myeloid leukaemia it will be safe to assume that more recent hires will not have been influenced by the even lower levels of benzene found in recent years.

Please note the previous publications which have been available to academics, industry, regulatory bodies and the general public:

Rushton, L. and M. Alderson, An epidemiological survey of eight oil refineries in Britain. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 1981. 38(3): p. 225-234.

2. Rushton, L. and M. Alderson, Epidemiological survey of oil distribution centres in Britain. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 1983. 40(3): p. 330-339.

3. Rushton, L., Further follow up of mortality in a United Kingdom oil refinery cohort. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 1993. 50(6): p. 549-560.

4. Rushton, L., Further follow up of mortality in a United Kingdom oil distribution centre cohort. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 1993. 50(6): p. 561-569.

5. Sorahan, T., Mortality of UK oil refinery and petroleum distribution workers, 1951–2003. Occupational Medicine, 2007. 57(3): p. 177-185.

6. Sorahan, T., L. Nichols, and J. Harrington, Mortality of United Kingdom oil refinery and petroleum distribution workers, 1951–1998. Occupational Medicine, 2002. 52(6): p. 333-339.

7. Energy Institute, An investigation of mortality and cancer incidence in United Kingdom petroleum distribution workers 1951-2011. 2016.

8. Energy Institute, An investigation of mortality and cancer incidence in United Kingdom oil refinery workers 1951-2011. 2016.

The original deadline for submission of the final reports to the Energy Institute was extended due to delays and constraints involved to re-start the project and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the priorities of stakeholders, including obtaining the additional cancer and mortality data form NHS England and undertaking the analyses required to produce the reports.

The University of Birmingham (UoB) is permitted to continue the processing and retention of data provided by NHS England (previously NHS Digital) under a previous iteration of this agreement for the purpose of the following research project: Cohort study of mortality and cancer incidence in UK oil refinery and petroleum distribution workers (1951-2016).

The following is a summary of the aims of the research programme provided by UOB:

''In the 1970s the Institute of Petroleum (IP) (now known as the Energy Institute (EI)) developed epidemiological cohort studies into the mortality and cancer morbidity experience of male employees from eight oil refineries and 476 petroleum distribution centres in the UK

The Energy Institute (EI) is the chartered professional membership body bringing global energy expertise together. It is an independent, not-for-profit, safe space for evidence-based collaboration, an honest broker between industry, academia and policy makers. A registered charity, incorporated by Royal Charter in 2003, the EI is licensed by the Engineering Council (UK) to offer Chartered, Incorporated and Engineering Technician status to engineers, the Science Council to award Chartered Scientist status, and also licensed by the Society for the Environment to award Chartered Environmentalist status. The EI was set up in 2003 as a result of a merger between the Institute of Petroleum (IP) and the Institute of Energy (InstE).

The objectives of this study are to summarise the available mortality and cancer incidence data in relation to the cohorts and to determine whether any part of this experience might be related to occupational exposures; in which event further analyses capable of investigating the potential role of occupational exposures might be needed.

UoB requires mortality and cancer registration data for use in the cohort mortality study of UK oil refinery and petroleum distribution workers. The cohort size is 55-60,000 participants. However, these are split geographically, so the size of the cohort in England is 35-40,000 (data for the remaining participants will be sought by UoB directly from Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland). The cohort details were previously held in identifying form by UoB, but UoB no longer hold identifying fields and now use pseudonymised data.

All these male employees had a minimum period of employment of 12 months in the period 1950-75, and incidence of death/cancer are being followed-up long-term.

The numbers of deaths and cancers identified in the cohort will be compared to deaths and cancers in the general population to identify whether there appears to be an excess risk of cancers (overall and by specific type of cancer) and deaths (overall and by specific cause) in the cohort when compared to the general population. Information on the rates of cancer/deaths in the general population does not require data from NHS England.

The findings of the study will help the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the EU Scientific Committee for Occupational Exposure Limits (SCOEL) in assessing whether current national and EU regulations provide adequate protection to workers exposed to benzene. The benefits of the work will be felt by current and future workers occupationally exposed to benzene, particularly in relation to risks of acute myeloid leukaemia and myelodysplastic syndrome (the latter has been suggested by others to be a major problem at low-level benzene exposure).

UoB is the data controller as the organisation responsible for ensuring that the data will only be processed for the purpose described above.

The legal basis under GDPR:

Article 6(1)(e) Public task : processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller.

Article 9(2)(j): Processing is necessary for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes in accordance with Article 89(1) based on Union or Member State law which shall be proportionate to the aim pursued, respect the essence of the right to data protection and provide for suitable and specific measures to safeguard the fundamental rights and the interests of the data subject.

This processing is in the public interest because it adheres to the UK Policy Framework for Health and Social Care Research and aims to produce generalisable and publicly available information to inform future decisions over patients’ treatments or care.

The funding is provided by the Energy Institute. The funding is specifically for the study described. Funding is in place until 30th April 2024. In accordance with the technical project specification, the Energy Institute will not have influence on the outcomes nor suppress any of the findings of the research.

Data will be accessed by an individual with an honorary contract with UoB. The individual, who will be supporting the data analysis, originally worked at UoB but has since moved to NHS England.

With the funding from the Energy Institute (http://www.energyinst.org, registered charity number: 1097899) the research team at the University of Birmingham undertook a series of statistical analyses and updated cancer incidence and mortality notifications for a UK cohort of oil refinery and petroleum workers. Previously published work on this cohort used cancer and death registrations to the end of 2011.

The research team produced tables of mortality (1951-2016) and cancer incidence (1971-2015) for oil refinery workers and petroleum distribution workers separately. Separate reports on mortality and cancer incidence were produced for the Energy Institute, looking at oil refinery workers and petroleum distribution workers, taking account of an additional four years of follow-up with regard to cancer and five years of follow-up with regard to death.

The final reports were submitted to the Energy Institute in May 2021. The Energy Institute plan to publish the reports and make them available in the public domain by early 2023.

The research team plan to review, and potentially extend, the analyses undertaken so far with a view to publishing updated study findings (on cancer incidence and mortality) in medical peer-reviewed journals that specialise in Occupational Health. No additional data will be requested. The team plan to use the additional follow-up with regard to cancer and mortality investigate if this particular cohort are at an increased risk, compared to the general population, of specific types of deaths and specific types of cancers. The research team expect to produce at least one manuscript based on the cancer and death registrations for the oil refinery and the petroleum distribution workers. The results will be published in a peer-reviewed, open access journal which will be accessible by the general public, academics and regulatory authorities.

It is hoped that the manuscript(s) will be submitted for publication by the end of April 2024.

The final reports and publication(s) in medical journals will also be used by policy makers. The findings of the study will help the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the EU Scientific Committee for Occupational Exposure Limits (SCOEL) in assessing whether current national and EU regulations provide adequate protection to workers exposed to benzene. This is an on-going review process and copies of the study reports will be sent to both organisations.

The outputs will not contain NHS England data and will only contain aggregated information with small numbers suppressed as appropriate in line with the relevant disclosure rules for the dataset(s) from which the information was derived.

A previous analysis and publication from this study (Tom Sorahan, 2007. https://doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kql168) found clear evidence of an occupational cancer hazard for mesothelioma in oil refinery workers and it was present in all periods of follow-up. This was unexpected given that asbestos was only present as a ‘background’ exposure and provided further evidence that asbestos is a highly potent carcinogen.

An international pooled study by Schnatter et al (https://doi.org/10.1093/jnci/djs411) suggested that low-level benzene exposure might be an important risk factor for myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). The previous analysis of the UK oil refinery and petroleum distribution workers cohort (to 2011) provided no support for this hypothesis (Tom Sorahan and Nuredin Mohammed, 2016. DOI:10.3390/ijerph13050474); as no convincing evidence of occupational cases of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) from benzene exposure was seen. An update on the cohort analysis may update the knowledge in this field of research in particular for benzene exposure and incidental exposure to asbestos in the refineries. The findings may provide an up-to-date assessment of cancer risks in the cohort of UK oil industry workers hired in the period 1946-74. If there is no evidence of an excess of acute myeloid leukaemia it will be safe to assume that more recent hires will not have been influenced by the even lower levels of benzene found in recent years.

Please note the previous publications which have been available to academics, industry, regulatory bodies and the general public:

Rushton, L. and M. Alderson, An epidemiological survey of eight oil refineries in Britain. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 1981. 38(3): p. 225-234.

2. Rushton, L. and M. Alderson, Epidemiological survey of oil distribution centres in Britain. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 1983. 40(3): p. 330-339.

3. Rushton, L., Further follow up of mortality in a United Kingdom oil refinery cohort. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 1993. 50(6): p. 549-560.

4. Rushton, L., Further follow up of mortality in a United Kingdom oil distribution centre cohort. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 1993. 50(6): p. 561-569.

5. Sorahan, T., Mortality of UK oil refinery and petroleum distribution workers, 1951–2003. Occupational Medicine, 2007. 57(3): p. 177-185.

6. Sorahan, T., L. Nichols, and J. Harrington, Mortality of United Kingdom oil refinery and petroleum distribution workers, 1951–1998. Occupational Medicine, 2002. 52(6): p. 333-339.

7. Energy Institute, An investigation of mortality and cancer incidence in United Kingdom petroleum distribution workers 1951-2011. 2016.

8. Energy Institute, An investigation of mortality and cancer incidence in United Kingdom oil refinery workers 1951-2011. 2016.

The original deadline for submission of the final reports to the Energy Institute was extended due to delays and constraints involved to re-start the project and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the priorities of stakeholders, including obtaining the additional cancer and mortality data form NHS England and undertaking the analyses required to produce the reports.

In the 1970s the Institute of Petroleum (IP) (now known as the Energy Institute (EI)) developed epidemiological cohort studies into the mortality and cancer morbidity experience of male employees from eight oil refineries and 476 petroleum distribution centres in the UK

The Energy Institute (EI) is the chartered professional membership body bringing global energy expertise together. It is an independent, not-for-profit, safe space for evidence-based collaboration, an honest broker between industry, academia and policy makers. A registered charity, incorporated by Royal Charter in 2003, the EI is licensed by the Engineering Council (UK) to offer Chartered, Incorporated and Engineering Technician status to engineers, the Science Council to award Chartered Scientist status, and also licensed by the Society for the Environment to award Chartered Environmentalist status. The EI was set up in 2003 as a result of a merger between the Institute of Petroleum (IP) and the Institute of Energy (InstE).

The objectives of this study (carried out by the University of Birmingham (UoB) as sole Data controller who also processes the data) are to summarise the available mortality and cancer incidence data in relation to the cohorts and to determine whether any part of this experience might be related to occupational exposures; in which event further analyses capable of investigating the potential role of occupational exposures might be needed.

UoB requires mortality and cancer registration data for use in the cohort mortality study of UK oil refinery and petroleum distribution workers. The cohort size is 55-60,000 participants. However, these are split geographically, so the size of the cohort in England is 35-40,000 (data for the remaining participants will be sought by UoB directly from Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland). The cohort details were previously held in identifying form by UoB, but UoB no longer hold identifying fields and now use pseudonymised data.

All these male employees had a minimum period of employment of 12 months in the period 1950-75, and incidence of death/cancer are being followed-up long-term.

The numbers of deaths and cancers identified in the cohort will be compared to deaths and cancers in the general population to identify whether there appears to be an excess risk of cancers (overall and by specific type of cancer) and deaths (overall and by specific cause) in the cohort when compared to the general population. Information on the rates of cancer/deaths in the general population does not require data from NHS Digital.

The findings of the study will help the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the EU Scientific Committee for Occupational Exposure Limits (SCOEL) in assessing whether current national and EU regulations provide adequate protection to workers exposed to benzene. The benefits of the work will be felt by current and future workers occupationally exposed to benzene, particularly in relation to risks of acute myeloid leukaemia and myelodysplastic syndrome (the latter has been suggested by others to be a major problem at low-level benzene exposure).

The legal basis under GDPR:

Article 6(1)(e) Public task : processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller.

Article 9(2)(j): Processing is necessary for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes in accordance with Article 89(1) based on Union or Member State law which shall be proportionate to the aim pursued, respect the essence of the right to data protection and provide for suitable and specific measures to safeguard the fundamental rights and the interests of the data subject.

The research team at the University of Birmingham would like to update cancer incidence and mortality notifications for a UK cohort of oil refinery and petroleum workers. Previously published work on this cohort used cancer and death registrations to the end of 2011.

The research team plan to publish updated study findings (on cancer incidence and mortality) in medical peer-reviewed journals that specialise in Occupational Health. The team plan to use mortality registration data for the period 1951-2018 and cancer registration data for the period 1971-2018. They will investigate if this particular cohort are at an increased risk, compared to the general population, of specific types of deaths and specific types of cancers. The research team expect to produce two manuscripts based on the cancer and death registrations for the oil refinery and the petroleum distribution workers. The results will be published in a peer-reviewed, open access journal which will be accessible by the general public, academics and regulatory authorities.

The results of these analyses will also form the basis of annual reports to the study funder, the Energy Institute (http://www.energyinst.org, registered charity number: 1097899). These are available to the public. The last two reports written for the Energy Institute by the researchers on this project were:

- An investigation of mortality and cancer incidence in United Kingdom petroleum distribution workers 1951-2011. 2016. (please see: https://publishing.energyinst.org/topics/health/medical/an-investigation-of-mortality-and-cancer-incidence-in-united-kingdom-petroleum-distribution-workers-1951-2011)

- An investigation of mortality and cancer incidence in United Kingdom oil refinery workers 1951-2011. 2016. (please see: https://publishing.energyinst.org/topics/health/medical/an-investigation-of-mortality-and-cancer-incidence-in-united-kingdom-oil-refinery-workers-1951-2011)

During the course of the project regular project steering group meetings will be held with key stakeholders in the project, and minutes reported back to the Energy Institute. Meetings on the progress of the work will also be held with the Health Technical Committee at the Energy Institute. When appropriate conferences on Occupational Health are run, the team plan to submit the revised analysis for discussion (either through an oral presentation or a poster presentation) at such conferences, which consist of industry, academia and public members.

The final reports and publications in medical journals will also be used by policy markers. The findings of the study will help the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the EU Scientific Committee for Occupational Exposure Limits (SCOEL) in assessing whether current national and EU regulations provide adequate protection to workers exposed to benzene. This is an on-going review process and copies of the study reports will be sent to both organisations.

In October 2017 the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) held a new monograph meeting on benzene. This new development was discussed with the Energy Institute Health Technical Committee (HTC). The outcome of this meeting increased even further the importance and the imperative for a comprehensive analysis of the cohort data.

The study will only be used to make comparison of cause-specific mortality and site-specific cancer incidence in the cohort with expected numbers based on national rates.

All outputs will only contain results in highly aggregated format and as statistical summaries and measures of association. Small numbers will be suppressed in line with the HES Analysis Guide. Record level information will not be released to any third party.

Originally the final reports to the EI needed to have been completed by the research team by 30th April 2020. However due to constraints on the project with obtaining the data this has now been extended to 31st October 2020.

A previous analysis and publication from this study (Tom Sorahan, 2007. https://doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kql168) found clear evidence of an occupational cancer hazard for mesothelioma in oil refinery workers and it was present in all periods of follow-up. This was unexpected given that asbestos was only present as a ‘background’ exposure and provided further evidence that asbestos is a highly potent carcinogen.

An international pooled study by Schnatter et al (https://doi.org/10.1093/jnci/djs411) suggested that low-level benzene exposure might be an important risk factor for myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). The previous analysis of the UK oil refinery and petroleum distribution workers cohort (to 2011) provided no support for this hypothesis (Tom Sorahan and Nuredin Mohammed, 2016. DOI:10.3390/ijerph13050474); as no convincing evidence of occupational cases of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) from benzene exposure was seen. An update on the cohort analysis will update the knowledge in this field of research in particular for benzene exposure and incidental exposure to asbestos in the refineries. The findings will provide an up-to-date assessment of cancer risks in the cohort of UK oil industry workers hired in the period 1946-74. If there is no evidence of an excess of acute myeloid leukaemia it will be safe to assume that more recent hires will not have been influenced by the even lower levels of benzene found in recent years.

Please note the previous publications which have been available to academics, industry, regulatory bodies and the general public:

Rushton, L. and M. Alderson, An epidemiological survey of eight oil refineries in Britain. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 1981. 38(3): p. 225-234.

2. Rushton, L. and M. Alderson, Epidemiological survey of oil distribution centres in Britain. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 1983. 40(3): p. 330-339.

3. Rushton, L., Further follow up of mortality in a United Kingdom oil refinery cohort. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 1993. 50(6): p. 549-560.

4. Rushton, L., Further follow up of mortality in a United Kingdom oil distribution centre cohort. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 1993. 50(6): p. 561-569.

5. Sorahan, T., Mortality of UK oil refinery and petroleum distribution workers, 1951–2003. Occupational Medicine, 2007. 57(3): p. 177-185.

6. Sorahan, T., L. Nichols, and J. Harrington, Mortality of United Kingdom oil refinery and petroleum distribution workers, 1951–1998. Occupational Medicine, 2002. 52(6): p. 333-339.

7. Energy Institute, An investigation of mortality and cancer incidence in United Kingdom petroleum distribution workers 1951-2011. 2016.

8. Energy Institute, An investigation of mortality and cancer incidence in United Kingdom oil refinery workers 1951-2011. 2016.

Originally the final reports to the EI needed to have been completed by the research team by 30th April 2020. However due to constraints on the project with obtaining the data this has now been extended to 31st October 2020. In addition public health issues (COVID-19) could potentially extend the time required to conduct the analysis and produce the reports for this project.

In the 1970s the Institute of Petroleum (IP) (now known as the Energy Institute (EI)) developed epidemiological cohort studies into the mortality and cancer morbidity experience of male employees from eight oil refineries and 476 petroleum distribution centres in the UK

The Energy Institute (EI) is the chartered professional membership body bringing global energy expertise together. It is an independent, not-for-profit, safe space for evidence-based collaboration, an honest broker between industry, academia and policy makers. A registered charity, incorporated by Royal Charter in 2003, the EI is licensed by the Engineering Council (UK) to offer Chartered, Incorporated and Engineering Technician status to engineers, the Science Council to award Chartered Scientist status, and also licensed by the Society for the Environment to award Chartered Environmentalist status. The EI was set up in 2003 as a result of a merger between the Institute of Petroleum (IP) and the Institute of Energy (InstE).

The objectives of this study (carried out by the University of Birmingham (UoB) as sole Data controller who also processes the data) are to summarise the available mortality and cancer incidence data in relation to the cohorts and to determine whether any part of this experience might be related to occupational exposures; in which event further analyses capable of investigating the potential role of occupational exposures might be needed.

UoB requires mortality and cancer registration data for use in the cohort mortality study of UK oil refinery and petroleum distribution workers. The cohort size is 55-60,000 participants. However, these are split geographically, so the size of the cohort in England is 35-40,000 (data for the remaining participants will be sought by UoB directly from Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland). The cohort details were previously held in identifying form by UoB, but UoB no longer hold identifying fields and now use pseudonymised data.

All these male employees had a minimum period of employment of 12 months in the period 1950-75, and incidence of death/cancer are being followed-up long-term.

The numbers of deaths and cancers identified in the cohort will be compared to deaths and cancers in the general population to identify whether there appears to be an excess risk of cancers (overall and by specific type of cancer) and deaths (overall and by specific cause) in the cohort when compared to the general population. Information on the rates of cancer/deaths in the general population does not require data from NHS Digital.

The findings of the study will help the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the EU Scientific Committee for Occupational Exposure Limits (SCOEL) in assessing whether current national and EU regulations provide adequate protection to workers exposed to benzene. The benefits of the work will be felt by current and future workers occupationally exposed to benzene, particularly in relation to risks of acute myeloid leukaemia and myelodysplastic syndrome (the latter has been suggested by others to be a major problem at low-level benzene exposure).

The research team at the University of Birmingham would like to update cancer incidence and mortality notifications for a UK cohort of oil refinery and petroleum workers. Previously published work on this cohort used cancer and death registrations to the end of 2011.

The research team plan to publish updated study findings (on cancer incidence and mortality) in medical peer-reviewed journals that specialise in Occupational Health. The team plan to use mortality registration data for the period 1951-2018 and cancer registration data for the period 1971-2018. They will investigate if this particular cohort are at an increased risk, compared to the general population, of specific types of deaths and specific types of cancers. The research team expect to produce two manuscripts based on the cancer and death registrations for the oil refinery and the petroleum distribution workers. The results will be published in a peer-reviewed, open access journal which will be accessible by the general public, academics and regulatory authorities.

The results of these analyses will also form the basis of annual reports to the study funder, the Energy Institute (http://www.energyinst.org, registered charity number: 1097899). These are available to the public. The last two reports written for the Energy Institute by the researchers on this project were:

- An investigation of mortality and cancer incidence in United Kingdom petroleum distribution workers 1951-2011. 2016. (please see: https://publishing.energyinst.org/topics/health/medical/an-investigation-of-mortality-and-cancer-incidence-in-united-kingdom-petroleum-distribution-workers-1951-2011)

- An investigation of mortality and cancer incidence in United Kingdom oil refinery workers 1951-2011. 2016. (please see: https://publishing.energyinst.org/topics/health/medical/an-investigation-of-mortality-and-cancer-incidence-in-united-kingdom-oil-refinery-workers-1951-2011)

During the course of the project regular project steering group meetings will be held with key stakeholders in the project, and minutes reported back to the Energy Institute. Meetings on the progress of the work will also be held with the Health Technical Committee at the Energy Institute. When appropriate conferences on Occupational Health are run, the team plan to submit the revised analysis for discussion (either through an oral presentation or a poster presentation) at such conferences, which consist of industry, academia and public members.

The final reports and publications in medical journals will also be used by policy markers. The findings of the study will help the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the EU Scientific Committee for Occupational Exposure Limits (SCOEL) in assessing whether current national and EU regulations provide adequate protection to workers exposed to benzene. This is an on-going review process and copies of the study reports will be sent to both organisations.

In October 2017 the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) held a new monograph meeting on benzene. This new development was discussed with the Energy Institute Health Technical Committee (HTC). The outcome of this meeting increased even further the importance and the imperative for a comprehensive analysis of the cohort data.

The study will only be used to make comparison of cause-specific mortality and site-specific cancer incidence in the cohort with expected numbers based on national rates.

All outputs will only contain results in highly aggregated format and as statistical summaries and measures of association. Small numbers will be suppressed in line with the HES Analysis Guide. Record level information will not be released to any third party.

The final reports to the EI need to have been completed by the research team by 30th April 2020. Also specific milestones on the project before April 2020 need to be met.

A previous analysis and publication from this study (Tom Sorahan, 2007. https://doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kql168) found clear evidence of an occupational cancer hazard for mesothelioma in oil refinery workers and it was present in all periods of follow-up. This was unexpected given that asbestos was only present as a ‘background’ exposure and provided further evidence that asbestos is a highly potent carcinogen.

An international pooled study by Schnatter et al (https://doi.org/10.1093/jnci/djs411) suggested that low-level benzene exposure might be an important risk factor for myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). The previous analysis of the UK oil refinery and petroleum distribution workers cohort (to 2011) provided no support for this hypothesis (Tom Sorahan and Nuredin Mohammed, 2016. DOI:10.3390/ijerph13050474); as no convincing evidence of occupational cases of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) from benzene exposure was seen. An update on the cohort analysis will update the knowledge in this field of research in particular for benzene exposure and incidental exposure to asbestos in the refineries. The findings will provide an up-to-date assessment of cancer risks in the cohort of UK oil industry workers hired in the period 1946-74. If there is no evidence of an excess of acute myeloid leukaemia it will be safe to assume that more recent hires will not have been influenced by the even lower levels of benzene found in recent years.

Please note the previous publications which have been available to academics, industry, regulatory bodies and the general public:

Rushton, L. and M. Alderson, An epidemiological survey of eight oil refineries in Britain. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 1981. 38(3): p. 225-234.

2. Rushton, L. and M. Alderson, Epidemiological survey of oil distribution centres in Britain. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 1983. 40(3): p. 330-339.

3. Rushton, L., Further follow up of mortality in a United Kingdom oil refinery cohort. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 1993. 50(6): p. 549-560.

4. Rushton, L., Further follow up of mortality in a United Kingdom oil distribution centre cohort. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 1993. 50(6): p. 561-569.

5. Sorahan, T., Mortality of UK oil refinery and petroleum distribution workers, 1951–2003. Occupational Medicine, 2007. 57(3): p. 177-185.

6. Sorahan, T., L. Nichols, and J. Harrington, Mortality of United Kingdom oil refinery and petroleum distribution workers, 1951–1998. Occupational Medicine, 2002. 52(6): p. 333-339.

7. Energy Institute, An investigation of mortality and cancer incidence in United Kingdom petroleum distribution workers 1951-2011. 2016.

8. Energy Institute, An investigation of mortality and cancer incidence in United Kingdom oil refinery workers 1951-2011. 2016.