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. 2015 Jul;58(7):715-29.
doi: 10.1002/ajim.22466. Epub 2015 May 6.

Risk of cancer among firefighters in California, 1988-2007

Rebecca J Tsai  1 , Sara E Luckhaupt  1 , Pam Schumacher  1 , Rosemary D Cress  2   3 , Dennis M Deapen, Geoffrey M Calvert  1
Affiliations

Risk of cancer among firefighters in California, 1988-2007

Rebecca J Tsai et al. Am J Ind Med. 2015 Jul.

Abstract

Background: Most studies of firefighter cancer risks were conducted prior to 1990 and do not reflect risk from advances in building materials.

Methods: A case-control study using California Cancer Registry data (1988-2007) was conducted to evaluate the risk of cancer among firefighters, stratified by race.

Results: This study identified 3,996 male firefighters with cancer. Firefighters were found to have a significantly elevated risk for melanoma (odds ratio [OR] = 1.8; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.4-2.1), multiple myeloma (OR 1.4; 95%CI 1.0-1.8), acute myeloid leukemia (OR 1.4; 95%CI 1.0-2.0), and cancers of the esophagus (OR 1.6; 95%CI 1.2-2.1), prostate (OR 1.5; 95%CI 1.3-1.7), brain (OR 1.5; 95%CI 1.2-2.0), and kidney (OR 1.3; 95%CI 1.0-1.6).

Conclusions: In addition to observing cancer findings consistent with previous research, this study generated novel findings for firefighters with race/ethnicity other than white. It provides additional evidence to support the association between firefighting and several specific cancers.

Keywords: cancer; firefighters; occupation; registry; risk.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: All authors are federal or state government employees and preparation of this manuscript was completely funded by the US Government. Otherwise, no additional financial disclosures were reported by the authors of this paper.

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