Cancer and other mortality patterns among United

Cause specific mortality was investigated among 36 622 members ofa national furniture workers' union who were first employed in unionised shops between 1946 and 1962. Overall mortality for each race and sex group was less than expected when compared with United States death rates (white men SMR = 0-8, black men SMR = 0 7, white women SMR = 0-8, black women SMR = 0 5); however, raised risks were observed among white men employed in specific types of furniture industries and followed up for 20 or more years after first employment. Lymphatic and haematopoietic cancers were significantly raised (SMR = 1 8) among wood furniture workers followed up for at least 20 years due to excess deaths from leukaemia (SMR = 2.0) and nonHodgkin's lymphoma (SMR = 2 0). Mortality from acute myeloid leukaemia was particularly high in this group (SMR = 4.7) based on six observed cases. Metal furniture workers followed up for at least 20 years experienced a significant excess of all cancers combined (SMR = 1 6), with nonsignificant increases in cancers of the lung, stomach, and colorectum. This group also had nonsignificant excesses of liver cirrhosis, arteriosclerotic heart disease, and cerebrovascular disease. Nasal cancer was not found to be significantly raised in this cohort, though the average follow up period may not have been sufficient to detect an excess risk for this uncommon tumour. In the manufacture of various types of furniture there is potential for exposure to wood and metal dusts, wood preservatives, formaldehyde, adhesives, solvents, welding fumes, spray paint, stains, and lacquers.'2 Toluene and xylene, commonly found in lacquers and paints, were frequently sampled in both wood and metal furniture plants inspected by the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) between 1979 and 1987.3 Other solvents monitored byOSHA in wood furniture plants included benzene, ketones, petroleum distillates, acetates, and alcohols. Lead and oxides of copper, iron, and zinc were often measured in metal furniture shops and probably resulted from welding processes. Adenocarcinoma of the nasal cavity and paranasal Accepted 26 September 1988 *Present address: Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers' Union, New York, NY 10003. sinuses is a well documented occupational hazard among workers in the hardwood furniture industry, based on numerous case-control studies and case reports, especially in Europe.'4 There is also limited evidence for increased risk of cancers of the larynx"7 and lung,>" Hodgkin's disease,'2-'7 leukaemia,'123 and lymphoma21'23 among workers in furniture and other wood related industries. The availability of records identifying members of a large, national furniture worker union in the United States enabled us to donduct a cohort study to investigate associations between mortality and employment in this industry further.