Cancer mortality among laundry and dry cleaning workers.

A cancer mortality study of 8,163 deaths occurring among persons formerly employed as laundering and dry cleaning workers in 28 states is described. Age-adjusted sex–race cause-specific proportionate mortality ratios (PMRs) and proportionate cancer mortality ratios (PCMRs) were computed for 1979 through 1990, using the corresponding 28-state mortality as the comparison. For those aged 15–64 years, there were excesses in black men for total cancer mortality (PMR = 130, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 105–159) and cancer of the esophagus 1 (PMR = 215, 95% CI = 111–376), and in white men for cancer of the larynx (PMR = 318, 95% CI = 117–693). For those aged 65 years and over, there were statistically nonsignificant excesses for cancer of the trachea, bronchus, and lung in black women (PMR = 128, CI = 94–170) and for cancer of other and unspecified female genital organs in white women (PMR = 225, CI = 97–443). The results of this and other studies point to the need for the effective implementation of available control measures to protect laundry and dry cleaning workers. Am. J. Ind. Med. 32:614–619, 1997. Published 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.1