LUNG CANCER RISK FROM FORMALDEHYDE

913 Of particular concern is the

potential for increased transmission of

hookworm, schistosomiasis, and malaria which may accompany the extension of agricultural practices. CONCERN/America, P.O. Box 1790, SantaAna, California 92702, U.S A. School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles

FRANK SORVILLO LAWRENCE R. ASH

cases of nasal cancers not an increased frequency of respiratory tract cancers. Although our present results are based on small numbers, this examination also shows that long-term formaldehyde exposure in man is unlikely to carry an important risk for lung cancer. The absence of an increased lung cancer risk indicates that the examination of a possible carcinogenic risk to man from formaldehyde should be concentrated on more proximal parts of the respiratory tract-i.e., the nasal cavities, a target for which there is

neither

far

so

LUNG CANCER RISK FROM FORMALDEHYDE

SIR,-Formaldehyde increases the risk of nasal cancer in rats and possibly also in mice. It is a mutaen in the fruit fly (Drosophila) and in certain yeasts and bacteria. Formaldehyde is thus highly suspect of being a human carcinogen. In view of the widespread use of formaldehyde in the industrialised countries it is important to examine and to measure the possible risk to man since extrapolation from laboratory animals and bacteria to man is still subject to uncertainties. Such human studies are feasible because certain population groups have been exposed to formaldehyde for several decades. One such formaldehyde exposed group is physicians in the specialties of pathology, forensic medicine, and anatomy, who are occupationally exposed to formaldehyde vapours and may be considered a potential high risk group. Based on information in the population based Danish Cancer Registry for the period 1943-76 we examined the association with formaldehyde exposure in a total of 84 cases of lung cancer (79 male, 5 female) among Danish physicians.Information on specialisation and places of work during the professional career of these physicians with lung cancer has been compared with the information for 252 controls, who were also physicans chosen to match the cases for age, sex, and survival at least until the time of lung cancer development. No male lung cancer cases had specialised in pathology (including forensic medicine and anatomy), and the risk in other medical specialties did not differ significantly from the risk among general practitioners (table). The lung cancer risk associated with employment at some time during the professional career in pathology, forensic medicine, or anatomy was not increased either

no

evidence of an increased risk in humans.

Danish Cancer Registry, Institute of Cancer Epidemiology, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark

OLE MØLLER JENSEN SUSANNE KRÜGER ANDERSEN

CANCER MORTALITY AMONG BUTCHERS AND SLAUGHTERHOUSE WORKERS

SIR,-We have read with interest the recent reports of the suggestion of increased risk of lung cancer among butchers and slaughterhouse workers. 1,2 Butchers and people who work in slaughterhouses (both cattle and poultry) are exposed to three viruses (the bovine leukaemia virus, the avian leukosis viruses, and Marek’s disease virus which are known to cause cancer in cattle and chickens). We carried out a preliminary study to determine whether an increased risk of cancer of the haemopoietic and lymphatic systems and other cancers could be demonstrated in this occupational group. A proportional mortality ratio (PMR) analysis was carried out on 223 deaths among male members of the local Meatcutters Union in Baltimore, Maryland. The results are shown in the table. We observed excess mortality from tumours of the haemopoietic/ lyumphatic systems and connective tissue. Excess mortality was also recorded for cancer of the trachea, bronchus, and 1. Fox AJ, Lynge E, Malker H. Lung cancer in butchers. Lancet 1982; i: 165-66. 2. Doerken H, Rehpenning W. Lung cancer in butchers. Lancet 1982; i: 561.

CAUSE-SPECIFIC PMRS FOR 223 MALE DEATHS IN THE MEATCUTTERS ADJUSTED FOR AGE AT DEATH AND

UNION IN BALTIMORE

(1965-80)*

RACE, BASED ON U.S. GENERAL POPULATION MORTALITY FOR 1975

(table). RELATIVE RISK

(RR) OF LUNG CANCER IN VARIOUS MEDICAL .

SPECIALTIES OF DANISH MALE PHYSICIANS

*No combinations mcludmg pathology. tphysicians with employment periods in other laboratories

excluded.

reported previously that no cases of nasal cancer among formaldehyde exposed medical doctors were notified to the Danish Cancer Registry during the period 1943-76.4 At the Third C.I.I.T. Conference on Toxicology: Formaldehyde Toxicology, held by the We

Chemical

Industry

Institute of

Toxicology,

in

Raleigh,

North

Carolina, 0. Wong, G. M. March, J. Walrath and J. F. Fraumeni presented three studies of cancer among formaldehyde exposed chemical workers and embalmers in the United States, finding 1 Chemical

Industry Institute of Toxicology (CIIT). Progress report on CIIT formaldehyde studies. Research Triangle Park, North Carolina: CIIT, 1980. 2. Auerbach C, Moutchen-Dahmen M, Moutschen J. Genetic and situ genetical effects of formaldehyde and related compounds. Mutation Res 1977; 39: 317-67. 3. Andersen SK, Jensen OM. Formaldehydeksponering og lungecancer blandt danske laeger. Ugeskr Laeg (in press). 4 Jensen OM. Cancer risk from formaldehyde. Lancet 1980; ii: 480-81.

*94% of deaths between 1970 and 1980. tOther tumours, not listed in detail were: 1

pinealoma, 1 possible gall bladder cancer, and I (primary unknown). *Data for bladder cancer separately (ICD 188) are: 0=3,E=1’34, PMR=2-24.

cancer