Occupational exposure to formaldehyde and risk of non hodgkin lymphoma: a meta-analysis

• Published in: BMC cancer Vol. 19; no. 1; pp. 1245 - 9
• Main Authors: Catalani, Simona, Donato, Francesca, Madeo, Egidio, Apostoli, Pietro, De Palma, Giuseppe, Pira, Enrico, Mundt, Kenneth A, Boffetta, Paolo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 23-12-2019; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Cancer; Codes; Disinfectants - poisoning; Estimates; Formaldehyde; Formaldehyde - poisoning; Humans; Leukemia; Lymphoma; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin - chemically induced; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin - epidemiology; Manufacturing; Meta-analysis; Mortality; Non-Hodgkin lymphoma; Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma; Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas; Occupational Diseases - chemically induced; Occupational Diseases - epidemiology; Occupational exposure; Occupational Exposure - adverse effects; Occupational Exposure - statistics & numerical data; Occupational health and safety; Population studies; Risk Assessment - methods; Risk Factors; Studies; Systematic review; Tumors; United States > US; Non-Hodgkin lymphoma; Formaldehyde; Cancer; Meta-analysis
• ISSN: 1471-2407; 1471-2407
• DOI: 10.1186/s12885-019-6445-z

Formaldehyde, a widely used chemical, is considered a human carcinogen. We report the results of a meta-analyses of studies on the relationship between occupational exposure to formaldehyde and risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).
We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis according to international guidelines and we identified 12 reports of occupational populations exposed to formaldehyde. We evaluated inter-study heterogeneity and we applied a random effects model. We conducted a cumulative meta-analysis and a meta-analysis according to estimated average exposure of each study population.
The meta-analysis resulted in a summary relative risk (RR) for NHL of 0.93 (95% confidence interval 0.83-1.04). The cumulative meta-analysis suggests that higher RRs were detected in studies published before 1986, while studies available after 1986 did not show an association. No differences were found between different levels of occupational exposure. Conclusions Notwithstanding some limitations, the results of this meta-analysis do not support the hypothesis of an association between occupational exposure to formaldehyde and risk of NHL.