Soft tissue sarcoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia in workers exposed to phenoxy herbicides: extended follow-up of a UK cohort.

OBJECTIVES

To provide further information on the possible carcinogenicity of phenoxy herbicides, and in particular their relationship to soft tissue sarcoma (STS), non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL).

METHODS

We extended follow-up to December 2012 for 8036 men employed at five factories in the UK which had manufactured phenoxy herbicides, or in a contract spraying business. Mortality was compared with that for England and Wales by the person-years method. Nested case-control analyses compared men with incident or fatal STS (n=15) or NHL/CLL (n=74) and matched controls (up to 10 per case).

RESULTS

4093 men had died, including 2303 since the last follow-up. Mortality from all causes and all cancers was close to expectation, but an excess of deaths from NHL was observed among men who had worked for ≥1 year in jobs with more than background exposure to phenoxy herbicides (19 deaths, SMR 1.85, 95% CI 1.12 to 2.89). Four deaths from STS occurred among men potentially exposed above background (3.3 expected). In the nested case-control analyses, there were no significantly elevated risks or consistent trends across categories of potential exposure for either STS or NHL/CLL. Among men who had worked for ≥1 year in potentially exposed jobs, the highest OR (for STS) was only 1.30 (95% CI 0.30 to 5.62).

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings are consistent with the current balance of epidemiological evidence. If phenoxy herbicides pose a hazard of either STS or NHL, then any absolute increase in risk is likely to be small.