Nasal Cancer in Woodworkers in the Furniture Industry

Abstract

The material reported here shows beyond reasonable doubt that cabinet makers, chair makers, and wood machinists in the furniture industry in the southern part of the Oxford Hospital Region are at special and substantial risk in respect of adenocarcinoma of the nasal cavity and sinuses, especially the ethmoid. The risk is not limited to woodworkers in the Buckinghamshire chair-making industry but is present at the same order of magnitude in persons engaged in the manufacture of general furniture in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. The risk is also present in woodworkers in the furniture industry in other parts of Southern England, but no final opinion can yet be given on whether the magnitude of the risk there is as high as within the Oxford Region. The risk also extends to a significant but lesser extent to persons employed in other trades exposed to dust in the furniture industry. In this area carpenters and joiners never employed in the furniture industry have either no increased risk or an increase in risk which is not detectable in a population of this size. The best estimate of the latent period of the tumour is 39 years, but tumours may develop after as little as five years' exposure in persons who have left the industry. It is concluded that a constituent or constituents of wood dust which is inhaled and is present in such commonly used hardwoods as oak and beech is aetiologically related to the development of these tumours. Polishes, lacquers and varnishes are unlikely to be incriminated. The factor concerned was present in the industry in this area as early as 1920 and at least as recently as 1940. It is not known whether it is still present, but from the temporal distribution of the cases, and bearing in mind the long latent period of the tumour, it is likely that further cases will occur in any event. It is recommended that the epidemiological situation should be watched carefully. The condition should be prescribed, and further efforts be made to reduce the concentration of wood dust in furniture factories and to encourage the use of masks. © 1968, British Medical Journal Publishing Group. All rights reserved.