RE: Information desired

From:"Horn, Hazel V" <HornHV@archildrens.org>

Actually, I can think of at least 6 histotechs who have died from cancer and
that's just the few I know.   I do think it is a problem.

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Patsy.Ruegg@UCHSC.edu [SMTP:Patsy.Ruegg@UCHSC.edu]
> Sent:	Thursday, August 09, 2001 11:31 AM
> To:	RSRICHMOND@aol.com; HistoNet@pathology.swmed.edu
> Subject:	RE: Information desired
> 
> Ah, come on.  If you read what I said, I said I had not seen much cancer
> in
> histotechs, I think that is hardly being alarming.
> Patsy 
> 
> 		-----Original Message-----
> 		From:	RSRICHMOND@aol.com [mailto:RSRICHMOND@aol.com]
> 		Sent:	Thursday, August 09, 2001 7:11 AM
> 		To:	HistoNet@pathology.swmed.edu
> 		Subject:	Re: Information desired
> 
> 		Patsy Ruegg writes about histotechnologists and other
> technologists with 
> 		leukemias, lymphomas, and other cancers.
> 
> 		Anecdotal information in this area is worse than useless -
> it alarms people 
> 		without providing any needed information. Remember that at
> least a third of 
> 		us will eventually get cancer.
> 
> 		What is needed is a registry of histotechnology workers that
> would track 
> 		their medical histories, at least to the extent of obtaining
> and analyzing 
> 		death certificates. The AMA does this for physicians, and
> useful data has 
> 		been obtained that way - for example, excessive chronic
> myelocytic leukemia 
> 		in old time radiologists. (Pathologists as far as I know do
> not have a 
> 		different cancer experience from other physicians.)
> 
> 		Histotechnologists probably get more aromatic (xylene,
> toluene) exposure and 
> 		less formaldehyde exposure than pathologists. It would be
> interesting to find 
> 		out if histotechnologists have more chronic myelocytic
> leukemia and 
> 		myeloproliferative disorders than other medical
> technologists do, since these 
> 		diseases are known to be related to aromatic solvent
> exposure.
> 
> 		Unfortunately, the fact that so many histology workers are
> uncertified and 
> 		transient would make a registry of this sort extremely
> difficult to put 
> 		together. Particularly since it's probably the marginal
> workers in the field 
> 		who get the most sol

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