Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Occupational and Environmental Medicine logoLink to Occupational and Environmental Medicine
. 1996 Mar;53(3):168–173. doi: 10.1136/oem.53.3.168

Melanoma and occupation: results of a case-control study.

L Fritschi 1, J Siemiatycki 1
PMCID: PMC1128439  PMID: 8704857

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Associations between occupational exposures and the occurrence of cutaneous melanoma were examined as part of a large population based case-control study of 19 cancer sites. METHODS: Cases were men aged 35 to 70 years old, resident in Montreal, Canada, with a new histologically confirmed cutaneous melanoma (n = 103). There were two control groups, a randomly selected population control group (n = 533), and a cancer control group (n = 533) randomly selected from among subjects with other types of cancer in the large study. Odds ratios for the occurrence of melanoma were calculated for each exposure circumstance for which there were more than four exposed cases (85 substances, 13 occupations, and 20 industries) adjusting for age, ethnicity, and number of years of schooling. RESULTS: Significantly increased risk of melanoma was found for exposure to four substances (fabric dust, plastic dust, trichloroethylene, and a group containing paints used on surfaces other than metal and varnishes used on surfaces other than wood), three occupations (warehouse clerks, salesmen, and miners and quarrymen), and two industries (clothing and non-metallic mineral products). CONCLUSIONS: Most of the occupational circumstances examined were not associated with melanoma, nor is there any strong evidence from previous research that any of those are risk factors. For the few occupational circumstances which were associated in our data with melanoma, the statistical evidence was weak, and there is little or no supporting evidence in the scientific literature. On the whole, there is no persuasive evidence of occupational risk factors for melanoma, but the studies have been too small or have involved too much misclassification of exposure for this conclusion to be definitive.

Full text

PDF
168

Selected References

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

  1. Armstrong B. K., McNulty J. C., Levitt L. J., Williams K. A., Hobbs M. S. Mortality in gold and coal miners in Western Australia with special reference to lung cancer. Br J Ind Med. 1979 Aug;36(3):199–205. doi: 10.1136/oem.36.3.199. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Armstrong B., Thériault G., Guénel P., Deadman J., Goldberg M., Héroux P. Association between exposure to pulsed electromagnetic fields and cancer in electric utility workers in Quebec, Canada, and France. Am J Epidemiol. 1994 Nov 1;140(9):805–820. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a117329. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Beral V., Robinson N. The relationship of malignant melanoma, basal and squamous skin cancers to indoor and outdoor work. Br J Cancer. 1981 Dec;44(6):886–891. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1981.288. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Blair A., Stewart P. A., Tolbert P. E., Grauman D., Moran F. X., Vaught J., Rayner J. Cancer and other causes of death among a cohort of dry cleaners. Br J Ind Med. 1990 Mar;47(3):162–168. doi: 10.1136/oem.47.3.162. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Duh R. W., Asal N. R. Mortality among laundry and dry cleaning workers in Oklahoma. Am J Public Health. 1984 Nov;74(11):1278–1280. doi: 10.2105/ajph.74.11.1278. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Firth H. M., Herbison G. P., Cooke K. R., Fraser J. Male cancer mortality by occupation: 1973-86. N Z Med J. 1993 Aug 11;106(961):328–330. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Goldberg M. S., Thériault G. Retrospective cohort study of workers of a synthetic textiles plant in Quebec: I. General mortality. Am J Ind Med. 1994 Jun;25(6):889–907. doi: 10.1002/ajim.4700250612. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Guénel P., Raskmark P., Andersen J. B., Lynge E. Incidence of cancer in persons with occupational exposure to electromagnetic fields in Denmark. Br J Ind Med. 1993 Aug;50(8):758–764. doi: 10.1136/oem.50.8.758. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Hall N. E., Rosenman K. D. Cancer by industry: analysis of a population-based cancer registry with an emphasis on blue-collar workers. Am J Ind Med. 1991;19(2):145–159. doi: 10.1002/ajim.4700190203. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Holman C. D., Armstrong B. K. Cutaneous malignant melanoma and indicators of total accumulated exposure to the sun: an analysis separating histogenetic types. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1984 Jul;73(1):75–82. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Katz R. M., Jowett D. Female laundry and dry cleaning workers in Wisconsin: a mortality analysis. Am J Public Health. 1981 Mar;71(3):305–307. doi: 10.2105/ajph.71.3.305. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Lee J. A., Strickland D. Malignant melanoma: social status and outdoor work. Br J Cancer. 1980 May;41(5):757–763. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1980.138. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Mazzuckelli L. F., Schulte P. A. Notification of workers about an excess of malignant melanoma: a case study. Am J Ind Med. 1993 Jan;23(1):85–91. doi: 10.1002/ajim.4700230113. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Nelemans P. J., Scholte R., Groenendal H., Kiemeney L. A., Rampen F. H., Ruiter D. J., Verbeek A. L. Melanoma and occupation: results of a case-control study in The Netherlands. Br J Ind Med. 1993 Jul;50(7):642–646. doi: 10.1136/oem.50.7.642. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Siemiatycki J., Dewar R., Nadon L., Gérin M. Occupational risk factors for bladder cancer: results from a case-control study in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Am J Epidemiol. 1994 Dec 15;140(12):1061–1080. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a117207. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Siemiatycki J., Wacholder S., Richardson L., Dewar R., Gérin M. Discovering carcinogens in the occupational environment. Methods of data collection and analysis of a large case-referent monitoring system. Scand J Work Environ Health. 1987 Dec;13(6):486–492. doi: 10.5271/sjweh.2009. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Sorahan T., Pope D. J., McKiernan M. J. Cancer incidence and cancer mortality in a cohort of semiconductor workers: an update. Br J Ind Med. 1992 Mar;49(3):215–216. doi: 10.1136/oem.49.3.215. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Spinelli J. J., Gallagher R. P., Band P. R., Threlfall W. J., Raynor D., Schellekens H. Occupational associations among British Columbia male cancer patients. Can J Public Health. 1990 Jul-Aug;81(4):254–258. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Stewart P. A., Stewart W. F. Occupational case-control studies: II. Recommendations for exposure assessment. Am J Ind Med. 1994 Sep;26(3):313–326. doi: 10.1002/ajim.4700260305. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Thériault G., Goldberg M., Miller A. B., Armstrong B., Guénel P., Deadman J., Imbernon E., To T., Chevalier A., Cyr D. Cancer risks associated with occupational exposure to magnetic fields among electric utility workers in Ontario and Quebec, Canada, and France: 1970-1989. Am J Epidemiol. 1994 Mar 15;139(6):550–572. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a117046. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Vågerö D., Olin R. Incidence of cancer in the electronics industry: using the new Swedish Cancer Environment Registry as a screening instrument. Br J Ind Med. 1983 May;40(2):188–192. doi: 10.1136/oem.40.2.188. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Vågerö D., Swerdlow A. J., Beral V. Occupation and malignant melanoma: a study based on cancer registration data in England and Wales and in Sweden. Br J Ind Med. 1990 May;47(5):317–324. doi: 10.1136/oem.47.5.317. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Walter S. D., Marrett L. D., Shannon H. S., From L., Hertzman C. The association of cutaneous malignant melanoma and fluorescent light exposure. Am J Epidemiol. 1992 Apr 1;135(7):749–762. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a116361. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Occupational and Environmental Medicine are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES