Table 1

Cancer risk from 1958 to 2012 in 2245 female laboratory workers in Stockholm, Sweden, by type of laboratory and duration of work

Full cohort*Chemical labNever chemical lab
No. of cases>1 year>10 years†No. of cases>1 year>10 years†No. of cases>1 year>10 years†
Cancer site, ICD-7 SIR (95% CI) SIR (95% CI) SIR (95% CI) SIR (95% CI) SIR (95% CI) SIR (95% CI)
All sites, 200–209383 0.93 (0.84 to 1.02) 1.02 (0.87 to 1.19) 214 0.98 (0.85 to 1.12) 1.03 (0.81 to 1.28) 111 0.84 (0.69 to 1.01) 1.09 (0.80 to 1.46)
Mouth, 141–1447 1.84 (0.74 to 3.79) 2.65 (0.72 to 6.79) 3 1.50 (0.31 to 4.38) 1.43 (0.04 to 7.99) 4 3.27 (0.89 to 8.38) 7.67 (1.58 to 22.42)
Stomach, 145106.0 expected2.5 expected03.2 expected1.2 expected01.9 expected0.7 expected
Colon, 15321 0.89 (0.55 to 1.37) 1.07 (0.54 to 1.92) 14 1.15 (0.63 to 1.92) 1.26 (0.46 to 2.73) 4 0.51 (0.14 to 1.32) 0.73 (0.09 to 2.65)
Rectum and anus, 1547 0.57 (0.23 to 1.17) 0.57 (0.12 to 1.68) 5 0.77 (0.25 to 1.81) 0.41 (0.01 to 2.28) 0 4.0 expected1.4 expected
Biliary passages of liver, 1557 1.10 (0.44 to 2.26) 1.79 (0.58 to 4.19) 4 1.20 (0.33 to 3.07) 1.52 (0.18 to 5.49) 0 2.1 expected0.7 expected
Bronchus and lung, 162.120 0.72 (0.44 to 1.11) 0.52 (0.19 to 1.13) 8 0.55 (0.24 to 1.09) 0.19 (0.00 to 1.05) 11 1.21 (0.60 to 2.16) 1.63 (0.53 to 3.80)
Breast, 170142 0.98 (0.83 to 1.16) 1.19 (0.92 to 1.52 82 1.07 (0.85 to 1.32) 1.41 (0.99 to 1.95) 35 0.77 (0.54 to 1.07) 0.87 (0.45 to 1.53)
Cervix, 17110 0.74 (0.35 to 1.35) 1.21 (0.39 to 2.83) 9 1.23 (0.56 to 2.33) 1.53 (0.32 to 4.48)04.1 expected1.0 expected
Uterus, 172–17423 0.93 (0.59 to 1.40) 1.36 (0.75 to 2.29) 15 1.16 (0.65 to 1.92) 1.70 (0.73 to 3.35) 4 0.49 (0.13 to 1.27) 1.45 (0.40 to 3.72)
Ovary, 17518 0.99 (0.59 to 1.57) 1.30 (0.59 to 2.46) 10 1.04 (0.50 to 1.92) 1.24 (0.34 to 3.17) 8 1.38 (0.60 to 2.73) 2.76 (0.90 to 6.45)
Kidney, 18006.7 expected2.8 expected03.5 expected1.3 expected02.2 expected0.8 expected
Urinary organs, 18110 1.17 (0.56 to 2.14) 1.32 (0.43 to 3.08) 6 1.35 (0.49 to 2.93) 1.13 (0.14 to 4.08) 2 0.70 (0.09 to 2.54) 1.98 (0.24 to 7.15)
Malignant melanoma, 19026 1.39 (0.91 to 2.04) 0.76 (0.25 to 1.78) 12 1.20 (0.62 to 2.10) 0 (0 to 1.21) 8 1.39 (0.60 to 2.74) 1.23 (0.15 to 4.43)
Non-melanoma skin cancer, 19123 1.59 (1.01 to 2.39) 1.53 (0.73 to 2.81) 11 1.48 (0.74 to 2.64) 0.97 (0.20 to 2.83) 10 2.10 (1.01 to 3.86) 3.59 (1.32 to 7.82)
Brain, 19311 0.84 (0.42 to 1.51) 0.87 (0.24 to 2.22) 6 0.86 (0.32 to 1.87) 0.46 (0.01 to 2.57) 4 0.99 (0.27 to 2.54)0 cases 1.2 expected
Endocrine glands, 1956 0.78 (0.29 to 1.69) 0.69 (0.08 to 2.48) 4 0.98 (0.27 to 2.50) 0.74 (0.02 to 4.14) 2 0.82 (0.10 to 2.95)0 cases, 0.8 expected
Unspecified sites, 19911 1.13 (0.56 to 2.02) 0.70 (0.14 to 2.04) 3 0.59 (0.12 to 1.74)0 cases, 2.0 expected 6 1.85 (0.68 4.04) 1.74 (0.21 to 6.29)
Hematolymphatic malignancies, 200–20923 0.93 (0.59 to 1.39) 1.00 (0.48 to 1.83) 15 1.15 (0.64 to 1.90) 1.50 (0.60 to 3.09) 5 0.62 (0.20 to 1.45) 0.76 (0.09 to 2.75)
Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, 20010 1.02 (0.49 to 1.88) 0.99 (0.27 to 2.54) 7 1.36 (0.55 to 2.81) 2.13 (0.58 to 5.45) 1 0.32 (0.01 to 1.760 cases, 1.1 expected
Lymphatic leukaemia, 2043 0.99 (0.20 to 2.89) 0.81 (0.02 to 4.49) 2 1.27 (0.15 to 4.57) 1.73 (0.04 to 9.62) 1 1.01 (0.03 to 5.61)0 cases, 0.3 expected
Myeloid leukaemia, 2053 0.92 (0.19 to 2.69) 0.78 (0.02 to 4.32) 2 1.17 (0.14 to 4.22)0 cases, 0.6 expected 0 1.1 expected0.3 expected

  • *The sum of persons in the subcohorts of ‘chemical’ and ‘never chemical’ lab workers is less than the number in the full cohort. See text in methods section for explanation.

  • †Ten years of work up to and including 1989.

  • ICD-7, International Classification of Diseases, Revision 7.