A population-based case-control study of 173 White men with multiple myeloma (MM) and 650 controls was conducted in Iowa (United States), an area with a large farming population, to evaluate the association between MM, agricultural risk factors, and exposure to individual pesticides. A slight nonsignificantly elevated risk for MM was seen among farmers (odds ratio [OR]=1.2, 95 percent confidence interval [CI]=0.8–1.7). Although slight excesses were observed, there were no significant associations between MM and handling either classes of pesticides or specific pesticides. Thus, this study found little evidence to suggest an association between risk of MM and farming or pesticides.
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Ms Brown and Dr Blair are with the Epidemiology and Biostatistics Program, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA. Dr Burmoistor is with the Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA. Dr Everett is with the Department of Internal Medicine, Orlando Regional Medical Center, Orlando, FL, USA. Address correspondence to Ms Brown, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Program, National Cancer Institute, Executive Plaza North, Room 415, Bethesda, MD, USA. This project was supported in part by a grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (ES 03099).
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Brown, L.M., Burmeister, L.F., Everett, G.D. et al. Pesticide exposures and multiple myeloma in Iowa men. Cancer Causes Control 4, 153–156 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00053156
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00053156