Open AccessPhenoxy herbicides and soft-tissue sarcomas in female rice weeders. A population-based case-referent study.
Author(s) -
Paolo Víneis,
Benedetto Terracini,
G Ciccone,
A Cignetti,
Emanuela Colombo,
Arnette Donna,
L. Maffi,
R Pisa,
Paolo Ricci,
Elaine de Oliveira Zanini,
Pietro Comba
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of work, environment and health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.621
H-Index - 103
eISSN - 1795-990X
pISSN - 0355-3140
DOI - 10.5271/sjweh.2077
Subject(s) - odds ratio , confidence interval , medicine , population , referent , demography , toxicology , environmental health , biology , linguistics , philosophy , sociology
A population-based case-referent study was conducted in an area of northern Italy where rice growing is the predominant agricultural activity and phenoxy herbicides have been used since 1950. Manual rice weeding was formerly performed by a seasonal female working population; in the early 1950s these women were concurrently exposed to chemical herbicides. Sixty-eight persons representing incident and histologically revised cases (31 women) and 158 population referents (73 women) were interviewed. The cases were histologically confirmed independently by two blinded pathologists, and exposure to phenoxy herbicides was assessed by two blinded pesticide researchers. An age-adjusted odds ratio of 0.91 was found for the living men (with suspect exposures; no man diagnosed as a case had been exposed with certainty to phenoxy herbicides). Among the living women the relative risk was 2.7 (90% confidence interval 0.59-12.37), and it further increased when attention was restricted to women exposed in the whole 1950-1955 period and to younger age groups.