Cancer mortality among shoe and leather workers in Massachusetts.

A proportional mortality analysis of death certificates of 2,798 shoe and leather workers demonstrated a statistically significant excess of bladder cancer among female shoe workers (PMR = 2.51, 95% confidence interval 1.23 to 5.12). A case-referent analysis of 289 leather workers, on whom detailed occupational information was available, demonstrated an association of lung cancer with work in leather-tanning jobs (odds ratio = 4.2, 95% confidence interval 1.09 to 16.2).