A new study just published on Feb 2011 in the journal of cancer makes a strong argument for applying hyperbaric oxygenation therapy (HBOT) for those patients who have had either surgery or radiation therapy for brain tumors. The study followed patients who had been treated with HBOT and there was a marked improvement in cognitive [...]
» Click Here to Read the full ArticleExcess Cancer Mortality Seen Among Dry-Cleaning Workers
WESTPORT, CT (Reuters Health) Mar 13 – Dry-cleaning workers have an excess mortality for several types of cancers, according to a report in the February issue of the American Journal of Industrial Medicine.
Researchers updated vital statistics through 1996 and conducted life-table analyses for a cohort of 1708 dry-cleaning workers. The subjects had been previously identified from union records as having been exposed to perchloroethylene (PCE), “a known animal carcinogen and probable human carcinogen.” Many had also been exposed to “Stoddard solvent, a petroleum-based dry-cleaning solvent.”
Dr. Avima M. Ruder, of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, in Cincinnati, Ohio, and colleagues evaluated the possible associations with mortality and occupational exposure in the cohort.
According to the report, the cohort had a significant excess of cancer deaths (271 deaths), with a standardized mortality ratio (SMR) of 1.25. “For all cancer deaths, SMRs were higher among those with 20 years or more since first exposure and among those who worked more than 5 years,” the team notes.
The investigators report that SMRs for cancers of the tongue, bladder, esophagus, intestine, lung, and cervix were significantly elevated. SMRs for pneumonia and diseases of the stomach and duodenum were also significantly elevated.
The 625 subjects exposed only to PCE also had significantly significant excesses for cancer of the tongue, ischemic heart disease and urinary calculi, “and a deficit of circulatory system disease deaths,” the researchers report.
They observed a significant excess of esophageal cancer among subjects who had worked only with PCE for over 5 years and whose first experience was at least 20 years before death.
“The results of this study add to the weight of the evidence that solvents used in the dry-cleaning industry are carcinogenic,” Dr. Ruder and colleagues conclude.
Am J Ind Med 2001;39:121-132.
