Occupational exposures and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: Canadian case-control study

Chandima P Karunanayake¹ , Helen H McDuffie¹ , James A Dosman¹ , John J Spinelli² and Punam Pahwa¹^,3

¹Canadian Centre for Health and Safety in Agriculture, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada

²Cancer Control Research, British Columbia Cancer Agency, British Columbia, Canada

³Department of Community Health & Epidemiology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada

author email corresponding author email

Environmental Health 2008, 7:44doi:10.1186/1476-069X-7-44


Published:	7 August 2008

Abstract

Background

The objective was to study the association between Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL) and occupational exposures related to long held occupations among males in six provinces of Canada.

Methods

A population based case-control study was conducted from 1991 to 1994. Males with newly diagnosed NHL (ICD-10) were stratified by province of residence and age group. A total of 513 incident cases and 1506 population based controls were included in the analysis. Conditional logistic regression was conducted to fit statistical models.

Results

Based on conditional logistic regression modeling, the following factors independently increased the risk of NHL: farmer and machinist as long held occupations; constant exposure to diesel exhaust fumes; constant exposure to ionizing radiation (radium); and personal history of another cancer. Men who had worked for 20 years or more as farmer and machinist were the most likely to develop NHL.

Conclusion

An increased risk of developing NHL is associated with the following: long held occupations of faer and machinist; exposure to diesel fumes; and exposure to ionizing radiation (radium). The risk of NHL increased with the duration of employment as a farmer or machinist.