Cancer incidence in Florida professional firefighters, 1981 to 1999.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to examine the cancer risk associated with firefighting.


METHODS
Standardized incidence ratio analysis (SIR) was used to determine the relative cancer risk for firefighters as compared with the Florida general population.


RESULTS
Among 34,796 male (413,022 person-years) and 2,017 female (18,843 person-years) firefighters, 970 male and 52 female cases of cancer were identified. Male firefighters had significantly increased incidence rates of bladder (SIR = 1.29; 95% confidence interval = 1.01-1.62), testicular (1.60; 1.20-2.09), and thyroid cancers (1.77; 1.08-2.73). Female firefighters had significantly increased incidence rates of overall cancer (1.63; 1.22-2.14), cervical (5.24; 2.93-8.65), and thyroid cancer (3.97; 1.45-8.65) and Hodgkin disease (6.25; 1.26-18.26).


CONCLUSIONS
Firefighting may be associated with an increased risk of selected site-specific cancers in males and females, including an overall increased cancer risk in female firefighters.
Ma
Fangchao
F
Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, Florida, USA. fma@med.miami.edu
Fleming
Lora E
LE
Lee
David J
DJ
Trapido
Edward
E
Gerace
Terence A
TA
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D005390:Fires; D005431:Florida; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors