Abstract
A total of 18 708 male cases of leukemia from the California Cancer Registry, including 1703 cases usually employed in construction, were each matched with up to five controls from the same source who were diagnosed with cancers not thought to be related to exposures common in construction. Compared to other workers, construction workers were found to have a significantly elevated risk for all leukemia combined (morbidity odds ratio [MOR] = 1.14, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.08, 1.20), acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) (MOR = 1.30, 95% CI = 1.07, 1.58), acute myeloid leukemia (AML) (MOR = 1.15, 95% CI = 1.03, 1.27) and chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) (MOR = 1.25, 95% CI = 1.09, 1.44). Among the different construction occupations, the highest MOR for all leukemia was among carpet installers (MOR = 1.99, 95% CI = 1.16, 3.44), followed by plumbers (MOR = 1.28, 95% CI = 1.03, 1.59) and laborers (MOR = 1.26, 95% CI = 1.12, 1.42). Other associations were limited to specific construction occupations, leukemia subtypes and/or racial/ethnic groups. These associations should be further studied with more in-depth exposure assessment.
Acknowledgements
The collection of cancer incidence data used in this study was supported by the California Department of Public Health as part of the statewide cancer reporting program mandated by California Health and Safety Code Section 103885; the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program under contract N01-PC-35136 awarded to the Northern California Cancer Center, contract N01-PC-35139 awarded to the University of Southern California and contract N01-PC-54404 awarded to the Public Health Institute; and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Program of Cancer Registries, under agreement 1U58DP00807 - 01 awarded to the Public Health Institute. The ideas and opinions expressed herein are those of the author(s) and endorsement by the State of California, Department of Public Health, the National Cancer Institute, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or their Contractors and Subcontractors is not intended nor should be inferred.
Potential conflict of interest
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