Australia firefighters push for more cancer research

ABC Premium News

QUEENSLAND, Australia — The Queensland firefighters union says more research is needed into the rate of cancer among its workers.

A national study has been launched into cancer rates among Australia's firefighters.

Queensland Health commissioned the report after environmental testing failed to explain a cancer cluster among staff at the Atherton fire station in far north Queensland.

There have been five reported cases of cancer among current and former staff.

Yesterday, a Monash University study tabled in Queensland Parliament found no evidence of higher cancer rates for the state's firefighters than the general male population in the state.

United Firefighters Union (UFU) state secretary Mark Walker says the Queensland study was too small and a long-term national study will provide a more accurate picture.

"Overseas studies certainly show — and particularly in the United States and Canada — that firefighting carries a significantly increased risk of a number of different types of cancers," he said.

"Because this study is of a relatively small number of people, it's not unusual that those figures have come out the way they have.

"We believe a national study that will pick up a larger number of people in an extended timeframe may well bring up different figures and may well reflect to a certain extent the data that's evident from the USA."

Emergency Services Minister Neil Roberts told Parliament yesterday that copies of the report would be given to staff at the Atherton station.

"The report stated the overall cancer incidence was as expected for the males and females in the cohort and no individual cancer type or group was found to be significantly in excess for men," he said.

Copyright © 2012 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.    Terms and Conditions Privacy Policy