Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study (DEMS)

Study Publications

Nested Case-Control Study

• Silverman DT et al. 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 et al. 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 et al. 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 et al. 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 et al. Diesel exhaust, respirable dust, and ischemic heart disease: An application of the parametric g-formula. Epidemiology; Epub Nov 27 2018.
• Ferguson JM et al. 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 et al. The Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study: I. Overview of the exposure assessment process. Ann Occup Hyg. 2010.
• Coble JB et al. The Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study: II. Exposure monitoring surveys and development of exposure groups. Ann Occup Hyg. 2010.
• Vermeulen R et al. 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. 2010.
• Vermeulen R et al. The Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study: IV. Estimating historical exposures to diesel exhaust in underground non-metal mining facilities. Ann Occup Hyg. 2010.
• Stewart PA et al. The Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study: V. Evaluation of the Exposure Assessment Method. Ann Occup Hyg. 2012.
• Vermeulen R et al. The impact of alternative historical extrapolations of diesel exhaust exposure and radon in the Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study (DEMS).  Intl J Epidemiol. 2020.

Editorials, Letters-to-the-Editor and Response

• Ogden TL. Diesel exhaust and underground miners - Letter from the Editor. Ann Occup Hyg. 2010.
  • Borak J et al. Comments on the Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study - Letter to the Editor. Ann Occup Hyg. 2011.
  • Stewart PA et al. Comments on the Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study - Author's Reply. Ann Occup Hyg. 2011.
• Rushton L. The problem with diesel. J Natl Cancer Inst. 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. 2012. (Response to 5 letters)
• Morfeld P. Diesel exhaust in miners study: How to understand the findings? J Occup Med Toxicol. 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 et al. 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 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 et al. 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.
  • 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. 2018.
  • Möhner M. On the ongoing discussion about the risk of lung cancer due to diesel engine exhaust. Am J Epidemiol. 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. 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. Stella Koutros. 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. Stella Koutros

Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch - Research Areas