Skip to main content
PMC home page
British Journal of Industrial Medicine logoLink to British Journal of Industrial Medicine
. 1988 Jan;45(1):19–24. doi: 10.1136/oem.45.1.19

Risk of malignant lymphoma in Swedish agricultural and forestry workers.

K Wiklund 1, B M Lindefors 1, L E Holm 1
PMCID: PMC1007939  PMID: 3342183

Abstract

The risk of malignant lymphoma after possible exposure to phenoxy acid herbicides was studied in 354,620 Swedish men who, according to a national census in 1960, were employed in agriculture or forestry. The cohort was divided into subcohorts according to assumed exposure and compared with 1,725,645 Swedish men having other economic activities. All were followed up in the Cancer-Environment Register between 1961 and 1979. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma was found in 861 men in the study cohort. The relative risk was not significantly increased in any subcohort, did not differ significantly between the subcohorts, and showed no time related increase in the total cohort or any subcohort. Hodgkin's disease was found in 355 men in the study cohort. Relative risks significantly higher than unity were found among fur farming and silviculture workers where the relative risks were 4.45 and 2.26, respectively. All five cases in the former group were engaged in mink farming. A time related rising trend in relative risk was found in the silviculture subcohort. Elsewhere the relative risk did not diverge from unity and no time related trend was discernible.

Full text

PDF
21

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Acheson E. D. Hodgkin's disease in woodworkers. Lancet. 1967 Nov 4;2(7523):988–989. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(67)90827-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Axelson O., Sundell L., Andersson K., Edling C., Hogstedt C., Kling H. Herbicide exposure and tumor mortality. An updated epidemiologic investigation on Swedish railroad workers. Scand J Work Environ Health. 1980 Mar;6(1):73–79. doi: 10.5271/sjweh.2631. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Barthel E. Krebsrisiko bei Pestizid-Exponierten in der Landwirtschaft. Arch Geschwulstforsch. 1981;51(7):579–585. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Blair A., Grauman D. J., Lubin J. H., Fraumeni J. F., Jr Lung cancer and other causes of death among licensed pesticide applicators. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1983 Jul;71(1):31–37. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Blair A., Hayes H. M., Jr Mortality patterns among US veterinarians, 1947-1977: an expanded study. Int J Epidemiol. 1982 Dec;11(4):391–397. doi: 10.1093/ije/11.4.391. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Breslow N. E. Elementary methods of cohort analysis. Int J Epidemiol. 1984 Mar;13(1):112–115. doi: 10.1093/ije/13.1.112. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Cantor K. P. Farming and mortality from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: a case-control study. Int J Cancer. 1982 Mar 15;29(3):239–247. doi: 10.1002/ijc.2910290303. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Cook R. R., Townsend J. C., Ott M. G., Silverstein L. G. Mortality experience of employees exposed to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). J Occup Med. 1980 Aug;22(8):530–532. doi: 10.1097/00043764-198008000-00009. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Dörken H. M. Hodgkin: Eine epidemiologische Studie über 140 Kinder--Stadt/Land-Relation, Berufe der Eltern, Kontakte mit Haustieren. Arch Geschwulstforsch. 1975;45(3):283–298. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Fasal E., Jackson E. W., Klauber M. R. Leukemia and lymphoma mortality and farm residence. Am J Epidemiol. 1968 Mar;87(2):267–274. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a120817. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Gallagher R. P., Threlfall W. J. Cancer and occupational exposure to chlorophenols. Lancet. 1984 Jul 7;2(8393):48–48. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(84)92043-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Giles G. G., Lickiss J. N., Baikie M. J., Lowenthal R. M., Panton J. Myeloproliferative and lymphoproliferative disorders in Tasmania, 1972-80: occupational and familial aspects. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1984 Jun;72(6):1233–1240. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Greene M. H., Brinton L. A., Fraumeni J. F., D'Amico R. Familial and sporadic Hodgkin's disease associated with occupational wood exposure. Lancet. 1978 Sep 16;2(8090):626–627. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(78)92845-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Grufferman S., Duong T., Cole P. Occupation and Hodgkin's disease. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1976 Nov;57(5):1193–1195. doi: 10.1093/jnci/57.5.1193. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Hardell L., Eriksson M., Lenner P., Lundgren E. Malignant lymphoma and exposure to chemicals, especially organic solvents, chlorophenols and phenoxy acids: a case-control study. Br J Cancer. 1981 Feb;43(2):169–176. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1981.25. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Lewis A. Empirical or rational? The nature and basis of psychiatry. Lancet. 1967 Jul 1;2(7505):1–9. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(67)90055-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Lynge E. A follow-up study of cancer incidence among workers in manufacture of phenoxy herbicides in Denmark. Br J Cancer. 1985 Aug;52(2):259–270. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1985.186. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Milham S., Jr Herbicides, occupation, and cancer. Lancet. 1982 Jun 26;1(8287):1464–1465. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(82)92470-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Olsson H., Brandt L. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the skin and occupational exposure to herbicides. Lancet. 1981 Sep 12;2(8246):579–579. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(81)90959-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Ott M. G., Holder B. B., Olson R. D. A mortality analysis of employees engaged in the manufacture of 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid. J Occup Med. 1980 Jan;22(1):47–50. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Pearce N. E., Smith A. H., Fisher D. O. Malignant lymphoma and multiple myeloma linked with agricultural occupations in a New Zealand Cancer Registry-based study. Am J Epidemiol. 1985 Feb;121(2):225–237. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a113993. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Petersen G. R., Milham S., Jr Hodgkin's disease mortality and occupational exposure to wood. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1974 Oct;53(4):957–958. doi: 10.1093/jnci/53.4.957. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Thiess A. M., Frentzel-Beyme R., Link R. Mortality study of persons exposed to dioxin in a trichlorophenol-process accident that occurred in the BASF AG on November 17, 1953. Am J Ind Med. 1982;3(2):179–189. doi: 10.1002/ajim.4700030209. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Wang H. H., MacMahon B. Mortality of pesticide applicators. J Occup Med. 1979 Nov;21(11):741–744. doi: 10.1097/00043764-197911000-00007. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Wiklund K., Einhorn J., Wennström G., Rapaport E. A Swedish cancer-environment register available for research. Scand J Work Environ Health. 1981 Mar;7(1):64–67. doi: 10.5271/sjweh.2564. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Wiklund K., Holm L. E. Soft tissue sarcoma risk in Swedish agricultural and forestry workers. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1986 Feb;76(2):229–234. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Wiklund K. Swedish agricultural workers. A group with a decreased risk of cancer. Cancer. 1983 Feb 1;51(3):566–568. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(19830201)51:3<566::aid-cncr2820510334>3.0.co;2-d. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Zack J. A., Suskind R. R. The mortality experience of workers exposed to tetrachlorodibenzodioxin in a trichlorophenol process accident. J Occup Med. 1980 Jan;22(1):11–14. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British Journal of Industrial Medicine are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES