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IJE Advance Access published online on September 14, 2009
International Journal of Epidemiology, doi:10.1093/ije/dyp283
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Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Epidemiological Association © The Author 2009; all rights reserved.

Risk of cancer among hairdressers and related workers: a meta-analysis

Bahi Takkouche1,2,*, Carlos Regueira-Méndez1,2 and Agustín Montes-Martínez1,2

1 Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
2 CIBER en Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBER-ESP), Spain.

* Corresponding author. Department of Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain. E-mail: bahi.takkouche{at}usc.es


  Abstract

Background Hairdressers and allied occupations represent a large and fast growing group of professionals. The fact that these professionals are chronically exposed to a large number of chemicals present in their work environment, including potential carcinogens contained in hair dyes, makes it necessary to carry out a systematic evaluation of the risk of cancer in this group.

Methods We retrieved studies by systematically searching Medline and other computerized databases, and by manually examining the references of the original articles and monographs retrieved. We also contacted international researchers working on this or similar topics to complete our search. We included 247 studies reporting relative risk (RR) estimates of hairdresser occupation and cancer of different sites.

Results Study-specific RRs were weighted by the inverse of their variance to obtain fixed and random effects pooled estimates. The pooled RR of occupational exposure as a hairdresser was 1.27 (95% CI 1.15–1.41) for lung cancer, 1.52 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.11–2.08] for larynx cancer, 1.30 (95% CI 1.20–1.42) for bladder cancer and 1.62 (95% CI 1.22–2.14) for multiple myeloma. Data for other anatomic sites showed increases of smaller magnitude. The results restricted to those studies carried out before the ban of two major carcinogens from hair dyes in the mid-1970s were similar to the general results.

Conclusions Hairdressers have a higher risk of cancer than the general population. Improvement of the ventilation system in the hairdresser salons and implementation of hygiene measures aimed at mitigating exposure to potential carcinogens at work may reduce the risk.

Keywords Cancer, hairdressers, meta-analysis, occupational health

Accepted 23 July 2009


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