Gender differences in hematopoietic and lymphoproliferative disorders and other cancer risks by major occupational group among workers exposed to benzene in China

Gender differences in risk for leukemia and other selected and combined disease categories were examined by major occupational category for 74,828 benzene-exposed workers compared to 35,805 unexposed workers from 12 cities in China. No significant differences in the relative risks for total mortality and cancer mortality were found between female and male benzene-exposed workers, although risks tended to be somewhat higher among male than among female employees. Both female and male workers in several occupational categories had notably increased risks for all hematopoietic and lymphoproliferative (HLP) malignant and nonmalignant disorders combined and for total leukemia. Variation in risk for HLP disorders by occupational category was observed in both genders, with highest risks for male and female chemical manufacturing workers, female nonproduction employees, and male printers. However, the numbers of leukemia and other HLP malignancies in each category were small. The findings suggest that both female and male benzene-exposed workers in several occupational categories experience excess leukemia and other HLP disorders with relatively minor gender differences. Although this population is one of the largest cohorts of benzene-exposed workers studied to date, evaluation of the observed variation in risk for HLP neoplasms among the occupational groups for workers of each gender is limited by the small numbers of these relatively rare malignancies.