Surveillance of cancer risks for firefighters, police, and armed forces among men in a Canadian census cohort.

BACKGROUND

Firefighters, police, and armed services may be exposed to hazards such as combustion by-products and shift work.

METHODS

The CanCHEC cohort linked 1991 census data to the Canadian cancer registry for follow up. Cox proportional hazards modeling was used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to estimate risks for firefighter, police, or armed forces compared to workers in other occupations.

RESULTS

The cohort of 1 108 410 men included 4535 firefighters, 10 055 police, and 9165 armed forces. For firefighters, elevated risks were noted for Hodgkin's lymphoma (HR: 2.89, 95%CI: 1.29-6.46), melanoma (HR: 1.67, 95%CI: 1.17-2.37), and prostate cancer (HR: 1.18, 95%CI: 1.01-1.37). Police had elevated risks for melanoma (HR:1.69, 95%CI: 1.32-2.16) and prostate cancer (HR:1.28, 95%CI: 1.14-1.42). No significant associations were found for armed forces workers.

CONCLUSIONS

Canadian firefighters, police, and armed services, may be at an increased risk of developing certain cancers. Results suggested that a healthy worker effect may influence risk estimates.