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Cancer mortality in German male workers exposed to phenoxy herbicides and dioxins

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In an occupational cohort study, the relation between exposure to phenoxy herbicides, and contaminants (dioxins and furans) and cancer mortality was investigated. A total of 2,479 workers from four plants in Germany were included, with a mortality follow-up until the end of 1989 (for one cohort, until the end of 1992). A total of 484 deaths were recorded yielding a standardized mortality ratio (SMR) of 101 (95 percent confidence interval [CI]=92–111) for total mortality, and an SMR of 119 (CI=100–141) for all malignant diseases. A variety of herbicides was produced, including those which are known to have been contaminated with 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). High dioxin and furan exposure (in particular, exposure to TCDD, but also to higher chlorinated dioxins) had occurred in two of the four plants as shown by blood-fat measurements in a sample of workers. Mortality from all neoplasms increased with latency and was highest in the largest plant where the highest TCDD blood levels were recorded. An increased mortality in the total cohort from respiratory cancer (SMR=154, CI=115–202), cancer of the buccal cavity and pharynx (SMR=295, CI=135–560), and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (SMR=326, CI=119–710) was observed. Our findings are consistent with results from other cohorts which showed an increased overall cancer mortality and mortality of respiratory cancer after long-term exposure to these phenoxy herbicides and dioxins.

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Drs Becher, Steindorf, and Wahrendorf are with the German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany; Drs Flesch-Janys and many are with the Medical Center for Chemical Workers' Health, Hamburg, Germany; Dr Kauppinen is with the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland; Dr Kogevinas is with the International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France, and Institut Municipal D'investigacio Medica, Barcelona, Spain. Address correspondence to Dr Becher, German Cancer Research Center, Division of Epidemiology, Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany. This study was supported by the German Ministry of Research and Technology under contract 01HK 5283.

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Becher, H., Flesch-Janys, D., Kauppinen, T. et al. Cancer mortality in German male workers exposed to phenoxy herbicides and dioxins. Cancer Causes Control 7, 312–321 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00052936

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