Residential herbicide use and risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
BACKGROUND
Environmental exposure to herbicides has been hypothesized to contribute to the long-term increase in non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).


OBJECTIVE
To estimate the effects of residential herbicide exposure on NHL risk.


METHODS
Population-based case-control study.


METHODS
Iowa and metropolitan Detroit, Los Angeles, and Seattle, 1998 to 2000.


METHODS
NHL patients ages 20 to 74 years and unaffected residents identified by random digit dialing and Medicare eligibility files.


METHODS
Computer-assisted personal interviews (1,321 cases, 1,057 controls) elicited data on herbicide use at each home occupied since 1970. Levels of 2,4-dichlorophenoxy-acetic acid and dicamba were measured in dust taken from used vacuum cleaner bags in the current home (679 cases, 510 controls who had owned at least half of their carpets for > or = 5 years).


RESULTS
Herbicide use on the lawn or garden was similar among cases and controls (adjusted relative risk, 1.02; 95% confidence interval, 0.84-1.23). Estimated risk did not increase with greater duration, frequency, or total number of applications of herbicides to the lawn, the garden, or to both combined. Risk was not elevated for respondents who applied the herbicides themselves and not for those exposed during the 1970s, 1980s, or 1990s. We detected 2,4-dichlorophenoxy-acetic acid equally often in homes of cases and controls (78%). We found dicamba in homes of 15% of cases and 20% of controls. We also found no elevation in risk among the respondents who had the highest dust levels and highest self-reported exposures. We found no consistent patterns for specific histologies.


CONCLUSIONS
We found no detectable excess associated with residential exposures. Residential herbicide exposures are unlikely to explain the long-term increase in NHL.
Hartge
Patricia
P
Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland. hartgep@mail.nih.gov
Colt
Joanne S
JS
Severson
Richard K
RK
Cerhan
James R
JR
Cozen
Wendy
W
Camann
David
D
Zahm
Shelia Hoar
SH
Davis
Scott
S
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004391:Dust / Q000032:analysis; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006540:Herbicides / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000032:analysis; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
D004391:Dust; D006540:Herbicides