Organochlorines in carpet dust and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
BACKGROUND
The incidence of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) has risen over the past several decades. Reasons for this increase are largely unexplained.


METHODS
In this population-based case-control study, we examined NHL risk and exposure to organochlorine compounds using concentrations in carpet dust as an exposure indicator. We identified NHL cases, uninfected with HIV, diagnosed between 1998 and 2000 among women and men ages 20-74 years in Iowa, Los Angeles County, and the Detroit and Seattle metropolitan areas. Controls were selected using random-digit-dialing or Medicare files. Organochlorine concentrations were measured in vacuum bag dust from 603 white cases and 443 white controls who had owned most of their carpets for at least 5 years.


RESULTS
NHL risk was elevated if any of the polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners (PCBs 105, 138, 153, 170, or 180) was detected (odds ratio = 1.5; 95% confidence interval = 1.2-2.0). Risk was elevated in the top tertile of PCB 180 (1.7; 1.1-2.6) and in the top 2 tertiles of total PCBs (middle tertile, 1.6 [1.1-2.4]; top tertile 1.5 [1.0-2.2]). There was a positive trend in risk with increasing PCB 180 levels (P trend = 0.03). NHL risk was elevated if dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) was detected (1.3; 1.0-1.7), but only among men. A positive, but not monotonic, dose-response relationship was observed for DDE (P trend = 0.02).


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest an increased risk of NHL associated with exposure to PCBs, with evidence of greater effects for PCB 180. There is also some evidence of an association with DDE.
Colt
Joanne S
JS
Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD 20852, USA. coltj@mail.nih.gov
Severson
Richard K
RK
Lubin
Jay
J
Rothman
Nat
N
Camann
David
D
Davis
Scott
S
Cerhan
James R
JR
Cozen
Wendy
W
Hartge
Patricia
P
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004391:Dust / Q000032:analysis; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*; D005260:Female; D005430:Floors and Floorcoverings; D006801:Humans; D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated / Q000633:toxicity*; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010575:Pesticides / Q000633:toxicity; D012044:Regression Analysis; D018426:SEER Program; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People
D004391:Dust; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated; D010575:Pesticides