THE OCCURRENCE OF CANCER IN A COHORT OF NEW-SOUTH-WALES COAL-MINERS

To describe the incidence of cancer in coal miners in New South Wales (NSW) between 1973 and 1992, an inception cohort of all male coal indu stry employees who entered the industry between 1 January 1973 and 31 December 1992 was constructed from the medical examination records of the Joint Coal Board. This cohort was matched with the NSW State Cance r Registry to determine the occurrence and type of cancer. In the coho rt of 23 630 men, 297 developed 301 primary cancers in the 20-year per iod of observation. The standardised incidence ratio (SLR) for all can cers was 0.82. Stomach cancer has been reported to be common in coal m iners but the SIR for stomach cancer was not higher than average in th is cohort. A cluster of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma has been reported in a NSW coal mine but an increased risk of this cancer was not evident in the industry as a whole. Similarly a cluster of cases of brain tumour has been reported. In this cohort, the SIR for brain tumour was 1.05 ( 95 per cent confidence interval (CI) 0.57 to 1.76) and a risk for brai n tumour remains unconfirmed. The SIR for malignant melanoma was 1.13 (CI 0.90 to 1.39) altogether and 2.02 (CI 1.31 to 2.98) for those work ers who started in an open-cut mine. Overall, there does not appear to be a general risk of cancer in the NSW coal industry. Open-cut miners have an increased risk of malignant melanoma, which may be related to their exposure to the sun at work.