Open AccessCancer incidence and mortality among Swedish Baltic Sea fishermen.
Author(s) -
Lars Hagmar,
K. Lindén,
Astrid Nilsson,
Bo Norrving,
Bengt Åkesson,
Andrejs Schütz,
Torgil Möller
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of work, environment and health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1795-990X
pISSN - 0355-3140
DOI - 10.5271/sjweh.1586
Subject(s) - population , incidence (geometry) , baltic sea , cohort , environmental health , cancer , medicine , cohort study , fishery , demography , biology , oceanography , physics , sociology , optics , geology
A 25% lower cancer mortality was found for 1360 Swedish fishermen who fished on the Baltic Sea than for the general population. The fishermen consumed twice as much fish as the population in the same county. In spite of the low overall cancer mortality, increased mortality from myeloma, as well as increased incidences of gastric carcinoma and squamous cell cancer of the skin and lips, was observed in the cohort. The decrease in risk for ischemic heart disease was not significant. Whether the dietary intake of fatty acids and selenium from fish contributed to the decreased risk was difficult to evaluate. Moreover, whether the consumption of fish from the Baltic Sea, contaminated with, for example, polychlorinated dioxins and dibenzofurans and other persistent organochlorine substances, contributed to the observed increased specific cancer risks is not known. However, the net health effect of high fish consumption from the Baltic Sea seems to be positive.