Night work and breast cancer: a causal relationship?

In its 2002 monitoring report, the Netherlands Centre for Occupational Diseases (NCvB) called attention to the possible relationship between night work and breast cancer in women. It was prompted to do so by the publication in 2001 of three occupational epidemiology studies revealing an association between night work and the occurrence of breast cancer. This in turn led the State Secretary of Social Affairs and Employment to request that the Health Council of the Netherlands provide a review of current knowledge on this topic, an opinion on its policy relevance and recommendations for further research.

Committee

• Professor JA Knottnerus, chairman
  President of the Health Council, The Hague
• Dr WRF Notten, vice chairman
  TNO Built Environment and Geosciences, Delft
• Professor A Bast
  Professor of Human Toxicology, University of Maastricht
• Dr CJM van den Bogaard, adviser
  Inspectorate, Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, The Hague
• Dr JSM Boleij
  Director, Board for the Authorization of Pesticides (CTB), Wageningen
• Dr CA Bouwman, adviser
  Health Council, The Hague
• Professor B Brunekreef
  Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health; University of Utrecht
• Professor MHW Frings-Dresen
  Professor of Work-Related Disorders; Academic Medical Centre, Amsterdam
• Dr HS Hiemstra, adviser
  Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment, The Hague
• Dr AEM de Hollander
  Senior researcher, programme manager; National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven
• Professor D Kromhout
  Vice President of the Health Council, The Hague
• Dr RM Meertens
  Health educationalist; University of Maastricht
• Dr HME Miedema
  Head of Environment and Health; TNO Built Environment and Geosciences, Delft
• Professor GJ Mulder
  Emeritus Professor of Toxicology, Leiden
• Professor WF Passchier
  Professor of Risk Analysis; University of Maastricht
• Professor W Seinen
  Professor of Toxicology, University of Utrecht
• Drs JA Verspoor, adviser
  Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, The Hague
• Professor M de Visser
  Vice President of the Health Council, The Hague
• A Wijbenga
  Executive director of the Health Council, The Hague
• Dr JH van Wijnen
  Medical officer in environmental health, Amsterdam
• Professor FA de Wolff
  Professor of Clinical and Forensic Toxicology; Leiden University Medical Centre
• Dr PW van Vliet, scientific secretary
  Health Council, The Hague