A case-control study of hematopoietic and lymphoid neoplasms: the role of work in the chemical industry.

The present case-control study was conducted in an effort to determine if work in the chemical industry is related to excesses of certain hematopoietic and lymphoid neoplasms. Cases who died from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and leukemia were matched by race, gender, age, year of death, and county of residence to controls who died from cardiovascular disease. A total of 618 (309 matched pairs) white male residents of Kanawha County, WV, aged 23-96, who had died between 1965 and 1990 were identified. Conditional logistic regression was conducted and yielded an association between chemical industry work and death due to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and lymphoid leukemia among subjects who died at age < 65. These results are consistent with the findings of previous studies linking work in chemical manufacturing to hematopoietic and lymphoid neoplasms, and indicate that the excesses may be related to the occupational exposures in men who died at younger ages.