Mortality from respiratory cancers (including lung cancer) among workers employed in formaldehyde industries.
A joint study on effects of formaldehyde exposure in industrial populations by the National Cancer Institute and the Formaldehyde Institute, Inc. (Blair et al. [1986]: J Natl Cancer Inst 76: 1071-1084; Blair and Stewart [1989]: J Occup Med 31: 881, Blair et al. [1990]: Am J Ind Med 17:683-700) reported no significant elevation in risk ratios standardized to the general population. Using the same data as Blair et al., we compared more exposed to less exposed workers to compute relative risk for respiratory and lung cancers using a multivariate, log-linear model incorporating factors for job type (hourly vs. salaried), cumulative exposure (0.1-0.5, 0.5-2, 2+ vs. < 0.1 ppm/years), length of exposure (1-5, 5-10, 10+ vs. < 1 years), and age. Models were fit for all workers, all males, all workers less than 65 years of age, and for all males less than 65 years of age. Hourly workers have a significantly elevated relative risk when compared to salaried workers. While only high levels of cumulative exposure show a significant elevation in relative lung cancer risk, trend analyses of the coefficients of a log-linear model show a significant trend of increasing risk with increasing formaldehyde exposure. The significantly elevated respiratory and lung cancer risk for workers younger than 65 may indicate a shift of respiratory cancer mortality towards younger ages among those occupationally exposed to formaldehyde.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Sterling
T D
TD
Faculty of Applied Sciences, School of Computing Science, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.
Weinkam
J J
JJ
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002423:Cause of Death; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005557:Formaldehyde / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012307:Risk Factors
D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational; D005557:Formaldehyde