Although women comprise 46% of the U.S. civilian workforce, most occupational studies focus on white men. Minority populations are also rarely included in occupational studies. Following the 1994-95 publication of a three-volume proceedings on occupational cancer among women, the Division has continued to seek opportunities to evaluate occupational cancer risk among women and minorities. This year a comprehensive review of the literature with recommendations for future etiologic and methodologic research was prepared. Racial and ethnic variations in cancer risk with considerations for future epidemiologic research were also reviewed. A study of workers exposed to beta-naphthyl amine and benzidine in a Moscow factory showed an almost 9-fold increase in bladder cancer among women, an excess larger than that observed among men. The women also had elevated esophageal cancer incidence and mortality. A case-control study of bladder cancer in rural New England, an area with the highest bladder cancer mortality rates in the US for women, showed slight nonsignificant elevations in risk for women employed in the leather, textile, and paper and pulp industries and for farming other than dairy farming. Slightly greater risks were seen for women who both worked and lived near leather, textile, or paper and pulp factories. A study of approximately 80,000 radiation technologists found no elevation in breast cancer, even among women employed for greater than 20 years. In a different study, no association was observed between breast cancer and exposure to extremely low frequency electromagnetic radiation among white women, but a 30% significant excess was observed among African American women. Exposure to video display terminals was not related to breast cancer among either race. A large death certificate-based study of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma showed excess risk among all race-gender groups employed in white collar/professional jobs and among African American men employed in manufacture of durable goods or in mining. A pooled analysis of 12 case-control studies demonstrated a 2.5-fold excess of adenocarcinoma sinonasal cancer among women in wood-related jobs and 2.1-fold excess of squamous cell cancer among women in wood dust-exposed jobs. Special efforts were made to enhance recruitment of minority farmers in the Agricultural Health Study. Feasibility projects have been launched for study of cancer among migrant farm workers, a group that is primarily Hispanic. Studies are also underway of women and minorities employed as nurses, cosmetologists, and with exposure to asbestos, solvents, pesticides, physical activity, and sunlight.
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