Cancer incidence of workers in a Finnish sawmill

The cancer incidence of 1,223 sawmill workers with continuous employment of at least one year between 1 January 1945 and 31 December 1961 was followed until 31 December 1980. Separate analyses were made for the 801 workers hired after 1 January 1945, and smoking habits were surveyed. Among the men, 90 cases of primary cancer were detected versus 83.5 expected and among the women 55 cancer cases versus 44.5 expected. Skin cancer was in excess among the men, especially among those employed after 1 January 1945. Lip, mouth, and pharynx cancer and lymphomas were also slightly in excess among the men, as was leukemia among both sexes. Workplace exposure, especially to chlorophenols, may be associated with the excess skin cancer and the slight excess of lymphomas, but this finding should be further evaluated with special emphasis on well-defined exposure data.