An application of the Swedish Cancer-Environment Registry. Leukaemia among telephone operators at the telecommunications administration in Sweden.

The detection of 4 cases of leukaemia among telephone operators at the Telecommunications Administration in Gothenburg within a period of 6 years (1969-74) evoked disquiet among the employees. Following an inquiry to the National Board of Health and Welfare a retrospective study was undertaken with a view to examining whether this incidence was consistent with the risk for the country as a whole. The study was based on the newly established Cancer-Environment Registry for the period 1961-73 covering the entire country. This was the first occasion on which the Registry had been applied in an investigation of cancer risk for a specific occupational group. The analysis disclosed no higher risk of leukaemia among telephone operators in the Telecommunications Administration in Sweden than among the population as a whole.