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The overall prevalence rate of stressful life events was significantly (P < 0.00001) higher among cases than controls. The data support the hypothesis that there is an association between stressful life event(s) and symptomatic kidney stones.

A case-control study of bladder cancer in two northern counties of New Jersey was conducted to investigate a tumour that has been considered to be strongly associated with industrial and environmental exposures. The study population included 75 bladder cancer cases and 142 controls. Cases and controls were matched for race, sex, age, place of birth and place of residence. Statistically significant associations with bladder cancer and risk ratios of greater than 2.0 were found for cigarette smoking and for working in dye, petroleum (fuel) or plastics industries. No statistically significant association was found for: cigar and pipe smoking; caffeine, saccharine and alcohol consumption; and life time occupational history of working in other than dye, petroleum and plastics industries. No statistically significant differences between cases and controls were found in family history of cancer. Risk ratios of at least 2.5 (but without statistical significance possibly because of sample size) were found for workers in rodenticide and printing industries, for cable workers and for cancer in the spouses of bladder cancer cases. Simultaneous multiple primary cancer sites were found in 9.3% of the bladder cancer patients; this is higher than the 0.2-8% reported in the medical literature. The life time occupational history of the bladder cancer cases points to industrial determinants: some are known (petroleum and dye industries) but the association with the plastics industry is new. If our findings are confirmed, investigations will be needed to determine whether any specific chemical or combination of chemicals used in the plastics industry is responsible for bladder cancer induction.

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The State of New Jersey (NJ) USA has been thought to have an unusually high cancer mortality rate; this assumption has been based on 1950-1969 mortality data for its 21 counties. This paper presents an analysis of gastrointestinal (GI) cancer mortality rates in New Jersey counties during 1968-1977, a comparison with the 1950-1969 rates, and associations between current GI cancer mortality rates and selected environmental variables. Age-adjusted mortality rates for GI cancers were calculated for the 21 NJ counties during the period 1968-1977, and were compared with the period 1950-1969, with the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) survey and with cancer mortality in the US, 1973-1977. The county rates were also correlated with: the distribution of chemical toxic waste disposal sites; annual per capita income; the rates of low birth weight, birth defects, and infant mortality; chemical industry distribution; percentage of the population employed in chemical industries; the density of population; and the urbanization index for each of the counties. Some of the major findings are: Age-adjusted GI cancer mortality rates (all sites combined) were higher than national rates in 20 of 21 NJ counties. In comparison with national trends, NJ stomach cancer rates have declined less, oesophageal cancer rates have declined more, and pancreatic cancer mortality rates have followed similar patterns. Cancer mortality rates in NJ during the period 1968-1977 significantly (p less than 0.0001) exceeded national rates for cancer of the oesophagus (white male, non-white male), stomach (men and women), colon (white male, white female, non-white female), and rectum (whites only). In 18 of the 21 NJ counties, the observed number of cancer deaths for at least one GI cancer site was significantly greater than expected at the 0.0001 level for at least one population subgroup. Among white men, a significant (p less than 0.0001) excess of observed over expected cancer deaths was observed for three or more GI cancer sites in seven counties. The environmental variables that were most frequently associated with GI cancer mortality rates (except pancreatic cancer) were degree of urbanization, population density, and chemical toxic waste disposal sites. Some of the implications of the study findings are discussed and recommendations made for future investigations.