Cancer risks due to occupational exposure to formaldehyde: results of a multi-site case-control study in Montreal

A case-control study was undertaken in Montreal to investigate the possible associations between occupational exposures and cancers of the following sites: oesophagus, stomach, colo-rectum, liver, pancreas, lung, prostate, bladder, kidney, melanoma and lymphoid tissue. In total, 3,726 cancer patients and 533 population controls were interviewed to obtain detailed lifetime job histories and information on potential confounders. Each job history was translated into a history of occupational exposures. Because of current concerns about formaldehyde carcinogenicity, we carried out a special analysis of the association between exposure to formaldehyde and each type of cancer covered by this study. Separate statistical analyses were carried out for each type of cancer using population controls as well as a control series drawn from among the other cancer sites in the study. Although nearly a quarter of all subjects had undergone occupational exposure to formaldehyde, the levels of exposure were in general quite low. There was no persuasive evidence of an increased risk of any type of cancer among men exposed to these levels of formaldehyde. However, the possibility of a small increase in risk could not be ruled out.