Governments and employers worldwide are set to face pressure for compensation and changes to working patterns following research suggesting night shift work may cause cancer.
研究表明，夜班工作可能导致癌症。世界各国的政府和雇主们势必面临要求赔偿和调整工作模式的压力。
Cancer patients' groups, researchers and trade unions are studying evidence of the link after Denmark's National Injuries Board approved compensation of up to DKr1m ($181,000, ?134,000, ?123,000) for 38 women who developed breast cancer after working one or more nights a week for at least 20 years.
丹麦国家伤害委员会(National Injuries Board)批准给予38位患乳癌的妇女最高100万丹麦克朗（合18.1万美元）的补偿，这些妇女在至少20年内，每周上一个或多个晚上的夜班。目前，癌症患者团体、研究人员和工会纷纷着手研究二者的关联。
A review of recent studies by the International Agency for Research on Cancer concluded that night work disrupted the body's circadian rhythms, inhibiting the production of melatonin, a hormone important in fighting cancer. “Shift work that involves circadian disruption is probably carcinogenic to humans,” it concluded, putting the risk at the same level as chemicals containing lead, anabolic steroids, creosote, diesel exhaust and sun lamps.
国际癌症研究机构(IARC)一份回顾了近期相关研究的报告归纳道：夜班会扰乱人体昼夜节律，抑制褪黑激素的分泌，而褪黑激素是一种具有重要抗癌作用的激素。报告的结论是：“会扰乱昼夜节律的轮班工作，可能对人体具有致癌作用。”该报告将这种工作模式列为与含铅化学物、合成代谢类固醇、杂酚油、柴油机尾气和日光灯等具有同等致癌风险。
Ahead of the full IARC findings to be published later this year, Australia's National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre cautioned that some studies indicated a “small increase in breast cancer risk . . . in limited groups of women . . . after 20 years or more of shift work”, findings were inconsistent and some “open to questions of bias and confounding”.
IARC的报告全文将于今年晚些时候发表。澳大利亚国家乳癌与卵巢癌中心(NBOCC)则警告称，一些研究指出，“在数量有限的女性中……经过20年或以上的轮班工作……患乳癌风险小幅上升”，各项研究结果不一致，其中一些“可能存在偏见和混淆”。