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

ABSTRACT

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 (HR1.69, 95%CI 1.32-2.16) and prostate cancer (HR1.28, 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.