Carcinogenic assessment of cobalt-containing alloys in medical devices or cobalt in occupational settings: A systematic review and meta-analysis of overall cancer risk from published epidemiologic studies

In 2020, the European Commission up-classified pure cobalt metal to a Category 1B hazard, based primarily on data from rodent inhalation carcinogenicity studies of metallic cobalt. The European Commission review did not evaluate cobalt-containing alloys in medical devices, which have very different properties vs. pure cobalt metal and did not include a systematic epidemiologic review. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of published, peer-reviewed epidemiologic studies evaluating the association between overall cancer risk and exposure to orthopedic implants containing cobalt alloys or cobalt particulates in occupational settings. Study-specific estimates were pooled using random-effects models. Analyses included 20 papers on orthopedic implants and 10 occupational cohort papers (~1 million individuals). The meta-analysis summary estimates (95% confidence intervals) for overall cancer risk were 1.00 (0.96–1.04) overall and 0.97 (0.94–1.00) among high-quality studies. Results were also similar in analyses stratified by type of exposure/data sources (occupational cohort, implant registry or database), comparators (general or implant population), cancer incidence or mortality, follow-up duration (latency period), and study precision. In conclusion, meta-analysis found no association between exposure to orthopedic implants containing cobalt alloys or cobalt particulates in occupational settings and overall cancer risk, including an analysis of studies directly comparing metal-on-metal vs. non-metal-on-metal implants. •In 2020, the European Commission up-classified pure cobalt metal to a Category 1B hazard.•Cobalt-containing alloys in medical devices have different properties vs. pure cobalt metal.•Meta-analysis found no association between exposure to orthopedic implants containing cobalt alloys and overall cancer risk.•Meta-analysis also found no association between occupational exposure to cobalt particulates and overall cancer risk.