The following HTML text is provided to enhance online
readability. Many aspects of typography translate only awkwardly to HTML.
Please use the page image
as the authoritative form to ensure accuracy.
Gulf War and Health: Insecticides and Solvents, Volume 2
Reference
Study Population and Cancer Type
Exposed Cases
Estimated Relative Risk (95% CI)
Lazarov et al., 2000
Residents of Novi Sad, Yugoslavia, and London, England—AML
Solvents (multivariate analysis)
53
2.52 (1.45–4.39)
Possible exposure
24
2.28 (1.12–4.62)
Probable exposures
29
3.86 (1.83–8.14)
Painters and related workers
7
4.57 (1.29–16.14)
Paints
23
1.28 (0.68–2.43)
Oils
32
1.56 (0.87–2.81)
Machinery mechanics and fitters
12
4.03 (1.44–11.23)
Mele et al., 1994
Residents of Italy
Painters, ever employed
AML
4
3.2 (0.5–20.8)
ALL
4
4.7 (0.6–34.2)
Shoemakers, ever employed
4
2.4 (0.9–6.9)
AML
1
1.3 (0.2–10.2)
ALL
Richardson et al., 1992
Residents of Paris and Créteil, France—acute leukemia; ever exposed
aRR and 95% CI calculated by the committee with standard methods from the observed and expected numbers presented in the original study.
b95% CI calculated by the committee with standard methods from the observed and expected numbers presented in the original study.
Epidemiologic Studies of Exposure to Organic Solvents and Chronic Leukemia
An association between exposure to benzene and risk of chronic leukemia was reported in several studies (Ireland et al., 1997: SMR=2.3, 95% CI=0.7–5.3; Rushton and Romaniuk, 1997: SMR=1.22, 95% CI=0.38–3.89 for 4.5–44.9 ppm-years; Yin et al., 1996a,b: SMR=2.6, 95% CI=0.7–16.9). No excess risks (OR=1.1, 95% CI=0.6–2.0) were observed for self-reported exposure to aromatic hydrocarbons (the class of solvents that includes benzene, toluene, and xylene) in a population-based case-control study of CLL (Malone et al., 1989). Except for one exposure level, the case-control study by Rushton and Romaniuk (1997) showed relative risks close to unity.
A case-control study of leukemia and preleukemia conducted in Italy found that shoemakers and painters were at high risk for CML (OR=4.5, 95% CI=1.6–13.0 for shoemakers; OR=7.6, 95% CI=1.5–39.8 for painters) (Mele et al., 1994). Positive associations between exposure to mixed solvents and CLL were found in a US study reporting previous exposures to paints (OR=1.4, 95% CI=0.8–2.2) and hobby painting (OR=1.4, 95% CI=0.9-
