Occupational cancer mortality among women employed in the telephone industry.

We conducted a mortality odds ratio (MOR) analysis among women employed in the telephone industry, using death certificates from 24 reporting states for 1984 through 1989. Usual occupation and industry from the death certificates were coded using the 1980 Bureau of the Census occupational and industrial classification system. There were 2444 cancer deaths among women in the telephone industry (code 441). Among younger (age < 49) white women, significant excess risks were observed from cancers of the rectum (MOR = 3.3; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.2 to 8.7), connective tissue (MOR = 4.4; 95% CI = 2.2 to 8.8), breast (MOR = 1.6; 95% CI = 1.3 to 2.1), corpus uteri (MOR = 3.3; 95% CI = 1.5 to 7.5), ovary (MOR = 2.1; 95% CI = 1.3 to 3.5), and brain (MOR = 2.1; 95% CI = 1.2 to 3.7). Cancer of the connective tissue showed an almost sixfold risk (MOR = 5.5; 95% CI = 2.0 to 14.8) for the age group of 30 to 39 years. Excess risks of cancer of the connective tissue were observed among engineers and technicians, office workers, telephone operators, and mechanics and repairers (MOR = 8.5, 4.9, 1.7, and 4.4, respectively), suggesting a possible relationship with modern technological exposures in the telephone industry. Risks for cancers of the breast, corpus uteri, ovary, and brain were also elevated among these jobs. We did not have information on other risk factors for these cancer sites; therefore, socioeconomic status or lifestyle may explain these observed associations, particularly for the cancers of the reproductive system.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)