Occupational exposures as risk factors for oral cancer evaluated in a Swedish case-control study

In a case-control study with 410 cases and 410 matched controls from the pe riod 1980-1989 we investigated the role of occupations and occupational exp osures as risk factors for squamous cell oral cancer. All subjects received a questionnaire. The response rates were 96% and 91% for cases and control s, respectively. A significantly increased risk was found for pulp industry workers, odds ratio (OR) 4.0 and wood or product workers, OR 5.5. Exposure to chemicals such as phenoxyacetic acids yielded an OR of 1.7. The positiv e findings in this study may be explained by exposure to chemicals, but nee d to be verified in further studies.