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Cancer in persons working in dry cleaning in the Nordic countries

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Author

  • E Lynge
  • A Andersen
  • Lars Rylander
  • Håkan Tinnerberg
  • ML Lindbohm
  • E Pukkala
  • P Romundstad
  • P Jensen
  • LB Clausen
  • K Johansen

Summary, in English

U.S. studies have reported an increased risk of esophageal and some other cancers in dry cleaners exposed to tetrachloroethylene. We investigated whether the U.S. findings could be reproduced in the Nordic countries using a series of case-control studies nested in cohorts of laundry and dry-cleaning workers identified from the 1970 censuses in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. Dry-cleaning work in the Nordic countries during the period when tetrachloroethylene was the dominant solvent was not associated with an increased risk of esophageal cancer [rate ratio (RR) = 0.76; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.34-1.69], but our study was hampered by some unclassifiable cases. The risks of cancer of the gastric cardia, liver, pancreas, and kidney and non-Hodgkin lymphoma were not significantly increased. Assistants in dry-cleaning shops had a borderline significant excess risk of cervical cancer not found in women directly involved in dry cleaning. We found an excess risk of bladder cancer (RR = 1.44; 95% CI, 1.07-1.93) not associated with length of employment. The finding of no excess risk of esophageal cancer in Nordic dry cleaners differs from U.S. findings. Chance, differences in level of exposure to tetrachloroethylene, and confounding may explain the findings. The overall evidence on bladder. cancer in dry cleaners is equivocal.

Publishing year

2006

Language

English

Pages

213-219

Publication/Series

Environmental Health Perspectives

Volume

114

Issue

2

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

Topic

  • Environmental Health and Occupational Health

Keywords

  • tetrachloroethylene
  • exposure
  • occupational
  • dry cleaning
  • cancer incidence
  • case-control study

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1552-9924