Citation

McDuffie HH, Pahwa P, Spinelli JJ, McLaughlin JR, Fincham S, Robson D, Dosman JA, Hu J. Am. J. Ind. Med. 2002; 43(Suppl 2): 54-61.

Affiliation

Centre for Agricultural Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Royal University Hospital, Saskatoon, SK, Canada. mcduffie@sask.usask.ca

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/ajim.10041

PMID

12210683

Abstract

BACKGROUND: A majority of published studies indicate that farmers have an elevated risk of developing non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) compared to other workers. METHODS: We evaluated accidental exposure to pesticides, the use of personal protective equipment, and exposure to animals among male farm residents in a Canadian population-based, multi-centre, NHL-control questionnaire study. RESULTS: In a multivariate model, the following variables had statistically significant adjusted odds ratios (OR) using 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) (a) higher risk: having more than 13 head of swine, raising bison, elk or ostriches, a personal history of cancer, > 4 and < or = 15 years of farm residence and occupational exposure to diesel fuel and exhaust; (b) lower risk: raising cattle and a personal history of measles. CONCLUSIONS: Future multidisciplinary studies of NHL should include a comprehensive review of exposure to animals in sufficient detail to assess etiological mechanisms to explain the putative associations between exposure to farm animals and NHL.

Language: en