Increased risks of soft tissue sarcoma, malignant lymphoma, and acute myeloid leukemia in abattoir workers

This paper presents a review and further analysis of a series of New Zealand case-control studies which have found elevated risks for soft tissue sarcoma (STS), non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in abattoir workers. The first published study involved 82 cases of STS (ICD 171) and found a relative risk of 2.8 (90% confidence interval 1.3-6.3). Interviews with an additional 51 cases reported here revealed a relative risk of 1.6 (90% confidence interval 0.9-3.0). Two further studies involved interviews with 100 cases of the category of NHL involving lymphosarcoma and reticulosarcoma (ICD 200) and 83 cases of other NHL (ICD 202). Relative risk estimates were 1.8 (90% confidence interval 1.1-2.9) and 1.7 (90% confidence interval 1.0-2.8), respectively. A study of 150 cases of AML (ICD 205.0) found a relative risk of 2.5 for abattoir workers (90% confidence interval 1.3-4.7). Finally, a United States cohort study found a standardized mortality ratio of 2.4 (90% confidence interval 0.8-5.4) for Hodgkin's disease (ICD 201) and 2.2 (90% confidence interval 0.8-4.5) for cancer of other lymphatic tissue (ICD 202, 203, 208) among abattoir workers. Abattoir workers are potentially exposed to oncogenic viruses, including bovine leukemia virus. Some workers may also be exposed to the animal carcinogen 2,4,6-trichlorophenol when treating pelts.