Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study (DEMS)

In March 2012, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) completed a retrospective cohort mortality and nested case-control study within the Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study (DEMS) cohort.

The researchers investigated risk of lung cancer in relation to quantitative measures of historical exposure to diesel exhaust, after taking into account smoking and other lung cancer risk factors among 12,315 workers at eight non-metal mining facilities. Elevated mortality from other causes among diesel exhaust-exposed miners was examined as well. An extensive effort to characterize current and historical exposures to diesel exhaust and to develop estimates of personal exposures was an intrinsic part of the study. Their results were published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The methods for this effort were published in five papers in the Annals of Occupational Hygiene.

DEMS II, launched by the NCI in 2016, extends the follow-up of the original cohort by an additional 18 years and expands the nested case-control study of lung cancer by conducting interviews with next of kin for all newly identified lung cancer deaths and matched controls.

For more information about DEMS and DEMS II, contact Dr. Debra Silverman.

Study Publications

Information for Journalists

To request an interview with a DCEG investigator, contact the NCI Press Office:

E-mail:
ncipressofficers@
mail.nih.gov

Phone: 240-760-6600

Nested Case-Control Study

Silverman DT, Samanic CM, Lubin JH, Blair A, Stewart PA, Vermeulen R, Coble JB, Rothman N, Schleiff PL, Travis WD, Ziegler RG, Wacholder S, Attfield MD. The Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study: A Nested Case-Control Study of Lung Cancer and Diesel Exhaust. J Natl Cancer Inst; Epub Mar 5, 2012.
Vermeulen R, Portengen L, Lubin J, Stewart P, Blair A, Attfield M, Silverman DT. The impact of alternative historical extrapolations of diesel exhaust exposure and radon in the Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study (DEMS). Int J Epidemiol 2020.
Silverman DT et al. The Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study (DEMS) II: Temporal Factors Related to Diesel Exhaust Exposure and Lung Cancer Mortality in the Nested Case–Control Study. Environ Health Perspect 2023.

Cohort Mortality Study

Attfield MD, Schleiff PL, Lubin JH, Blair A, Stewart PA, Vermeulen R, Coble JB, Silverman DT. The Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study: A Cohort Mortality Study with Emphasis on Lung Cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst; Epub Mar 5, 2012.
Costello S, Attfield MD, Lubin JH, Neophytou AM, Blair A, Brown DM, Stewart PA, Vermeulen R, Eisen EA, Silverman DT. Ischemic heart disease mortality and diesel exhaust and respirable dust exposure in the Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study. Am J Epidemiol; Epub August 2018.
Neophytou AM, Costello S, Picciotto S, Brown DM, Attfield MD, Blair A, Lubin JH, Stewart PA, Vermeulen R, Silverman DT, Eisen EA. Diesel exhaust, respirable dust, and ischemic heart disease: An application of the parametric g-formula. Epidemiology; Epub Nov 27 2018.
Ferguson JM, Costello E, Elser H, Neophytou AM, Picciotto S, Silverman DT, Eisen EA. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease mortality: the Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study (DEMS). Environ Res 2020.
Koutros S et al. Diesel exhaust exposure and cause-specific mortality in the Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study II (DEMS II) cohort. Environ Health Perspect 2023

Exposure Assessment

Stewart PA, Coble JB, Vermeulen R, Schleiff P, Blair A, Lubin J, Attfield M, Silverman DT. The Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study: I. Overview of the exposure assessment process. Ann Occup Hyg; Oct 2010.
Coble JB, Stewart PA, Vermeulen R, Yereb D, Stanevich R, Blair A, Silverman DT, Attfield M. The Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study: II. Exposure monitoring surveys and development of exposure groups. Ann Occup Hyg; Oct. 2010.
Vermeulen R, Coble JB, Yereb D, Lubin JH, Blair A, Portengen L, Stewart PA, Attfield M, Silverman DT. The Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study: III. Interrelations between respirable elemental carbon and gaseous and particulate components of diesel exhaust derived from area sampling in underground non-metal mining facilities. Ann Occup Hyg; Oct 2010.
Vermeulen R, Coble JB, Lubin JH, Portengen L, Blair A, Attfield MD, Silverman DT, Stewart PA. The Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study: IV. Estimating historical exposures to diesel exhaust in underground non-metal mining facilities. Ann Occup Hyg; Oct. 2010.
Stewart PA, Vermeulen R, Coble JB, Blair A., Schleiff P, Lubin JH, Attfield M, Silverman DT. The Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study: V. Evaluation of the Exposure Assessment Method. Ann Occup Hyg; Mar 2012.
Vermeulen R, Portengen L, Lubin J, Stewart P, Blair A, Attfield MD, Silverman DT. The impact of alternative historical extrapolations of diesel exhaust exposure and radon in the Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study (DEMS). Intl J Epidemiol; April 2020.

Editorials, Letters-to-the-Editor and Response

Ogden TL. Diesel exhaust and underground miners - Letter from the Editor. Ann Occup Hyg; Oct. 2010.
- Borak J, Bunn WB, Chase GR, Hall TA, Head HJ, Hesterberg TW, Sirianni G, Slavin TJ. Comments on the Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study - Letter to the Editor. Ann Occup Hyg; Apr. 2011.
- Stewart PA, Coble JB, Vermeulen R, Blair A, Lubin J, Attfield M, Silverman DT. Comments on the Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study - Author's Reply. Ann Occup Hyg; Apr. 2011.
Rushton L. The problem with diesel. J Natl Cancer Inst; Epub Mar 5, 2012. (Editorial appearing in issue with published cohort and nested case-control papers)
Silverman DT, Attfield MD. Response to “The Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study: A nested case-control study of lung cancer and diesel exhaust” and “The Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study: A cohort mortality study with emphasis on lung cancer.” J Natl Cancer Inst; Epub Dec 5, 2012. (Response to 5 letters)
Morfeld P. Diesel exhaust in miners study: How to understand the findings? J Occup Med Toxicol; June 7 2012.(Commentary)
- Silverman DT, Attfield M. Letter to the Editor; RE: ‘Diesel exhaust in miners study: How to understand the findings?’ by Peter Morfeld. J Occup Med Tox; 2013.
Silverman DT, Lubin JH, Blair BE, Vermeulen R, Stewart PA, Schleiff PL, Attfield MD. RE: “The Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study (DEMS): A nested case-control study of lung cancer and diesel exhaust.” J Natl Cancer Inst; 2014. (presents additional smoking data from nested case-control study)
Möhner M. The hidden impact of a healthy-worker effect on the results of the Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study. Eur J Epidemiol; 2016. (Correspondence)
- Silverman, DT, Attfield, MD, Blair, AE et al. Re: “The hidden impact of a healthy-worker effect on the results of the Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study”. Eur J Epidemiol; 2016.
Silverman DT. Diesel exhaust causes lung cancer – now what? (Invited Commentary) Occup Environ Med; 2017.
Silverman DT. Commentary: Diesel exhaust and lung cancer – Aftermath of becoming an IARC Group 1 Carcinogen. Am J Epidemiol 2018.
- Chang ET, Lau EC, Van Landingham C, Crump KS, McCleelan RO, Moolgavkar SH. Response to "Invited commentary: diesel exhaust and lung cancer -- aftermath of becoming an IARC Group 1 carcinogen" by Debra T. Silverman. Am J Epidemiol 2018 Mar 7. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwy036. Am J Epidemiol; Epub Sept 6, 2018.
- Silverman DT. Response to Letter-to-the-Editor: “Invited commentary: Diesel exhaust and lung cancer – aftermath of becoming an IARC Group 1 carcinogen” by Ellen T. Chang, Edmund C. Lau, Cynthia Van Landingham, Kenny S. Crump, Roger O. McClellan, Suresh H. Moolgavkar. Am J Epidemiol; Epub Sept 6, 2018.
- Möhner M. On the ongoing discussion about the risk of lung cancer due to diesel engine exhaust. Am J Epidemiol; Epub Aug 14, 2018.
- Silverman DT. Response to Letter-to-the-Editor: “On the ongoing discussion about the risk of lung cancer due to diesel engine exhaust” by Matthias Möhner. Am J Epidemiol; Epub Aug 14 2018.

Requests for Study Data

NCI believes that transparency and public health and scientific advancements are best served when, for an appropriate and legitimate public health purpose, data are shared with researchers and other public health agencies in an open, timely, and appropriate way. Requestors interested in the data supporting the Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study II (DEMS II) can access these data by submitting an application and signing a data use agreement prior to receiving any dataset. Data requestors must have a legitimate public health or scientific need for the data and must agree to comply with certain restrictions on the use of the data.

To receive an application for the DEMS II data, send an email to Dr. Debra Silverman. Please include "Request for DEMS II Data," in the subject line, and in the body of the email include all contact information.

In addition, NCI is providing the opportunity to download the exposure data and documentation underlying the exposure assessment methods described in the five published exposure assessment papers shown above in the Study Publications. To access exposure data underlying the exposure assessment papers, you may download (1) a zip archive of the data and (2) the documentation.

For more information, contact Dr. Debra Silverman.

Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch - Research Areas