CDC - NIOSH Update - NIOSH Study of Firefighters Finds Increased Rates of Cancer

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A combined population of 30,000 firefighters from three large cities had higher rates of several types of cancers, and of all cancers combined, than the U.S. population as a whole, researchers from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and colleagues found in a new study. The new findings are generally consistent with the results of several previous, smaller studies. Because the new study had a larger study population followed for a longer period of time, the results strengthen the scientific evidence for a relation between firefighting and cancer, the researchers said. The findings were reported in an article posted on-line on Oct. 14, 2013, by the peer-reviewed journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine. The article is available online at http://oem.bmj.com/content/early/2013/10/14/oemed-2013-101662.full . The researchers found that: Cancers of the respiratory, digestive, and urinary systems accounted mostly for the higher rates of cancer seen in the study population. The higher rates suggest that firefighters are more likely to develop those cancers. The population of firefighters in the study had a rate of mesothelioma two times greater than the rate in the U.S. population as a whole. This was the first study ever to identify an excess of mesothelioma in U.S. firefighters. The researchers said it was likely that the findings were associated with exposure to asbestos, a...

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National Survey: Working Longer—Older Americans’ Attitudes on Work and Retirement

The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research has released the results of a major new survey exploring the views of older Americans about their plans for work and retirement.  It provides in-depth information about a rapidly growing segment of the population that by choice or circumstance is working longer.  The Great Recession has had a marked impact on retirement plans. “The survey illuminates an important shift in Americans’ attitudes toward work, aging, and retirement,” said Trevor Tompson, director of the AP-NORC Center.  “Retirement is not only coming later in life, it no longer represents a complete exit from the workforce.  The data in this survey reveal strikingly different views of retirement among older workers today than those held by the prior generation.” With funding provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research conducted a national survey of 1,024 adults ages 50 and over.  It is a segment of the population that is not only growing rapidly in numbers, but is also becoming substantially healthier.  Projections show that the U.S. population age 65 and over will increase to 19 percent of the population by 2030, up from 13 percent in 2010, an estimated 72 million people. At the same time, people age 55 and over comprise the fastest growing segment of the workforce. By 2020, approximately one fourth of American workers will be...

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