Increased risk of cancer for occupational groups including hairdressers, sewing machinists, field crop and fruit and vegetable growers, reported by New Zealand researchers. Occupational cancers account for 330 deaths in New Zealand each year, about five per cent.
Dr Andrea ‘t Mannetje is lead author of a study on Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in New Zealand, now published online in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, and second author of a study of high risk occupations for bladder cancer in New Zealand, published in the International Journal of Cancer.
The Non-Hodgkin’s findings include that workers in plant nurseries are four times more likely to develop the disease, with apple and pear growing associated with a five-fold risk. Vegetable producers and those in general horticulture production have more than a two-fold risk of developing Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma is understood to account for about nine per cent of cancer cases,
Dr ‘t Mannetje says that overseas studies have indicated that dairy and beef farmers had an increased risk of developing non-Hodgkin’s, which is a group of cancers arising from lym…
Read more Occupational cancer risk in fruit and veg growers, hairdressers