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We appreciate Dr. Morfeld’s [1] interest in our recent review of the epidemiologic evidence for associations of formaldehyde with the lymphohematopoietic malignancies [2]. He notes the omission of a letter exchange [3] concerning evidence for hematotoxicity and chromosome damage among Chinese workers exposed to formaldehyde [4]. Although this exchange raised some provocative questions, it does not alter our conclusion that the proposed leukemogenesis mechanisms for formaldehyde remain unsubstantiated. As Morfeld mentions, we did neglect to cite the meta-analysis by Schwilk et al. [5], although we have critically reviewed all of the primary literature that formed the basis of this meta-analysis. We maintain that, owing to the heterogeneity of the literature in terms of health outcome definition and exposure assessment, meta-analyses of formaldehyde and risks for leukemia and lymphoma are not readily interpretable. This was a main motivation for our systematic, critical review of the evidence presented in the published epidemiologic literature.
References
Morfeld P (in press) Letter to the editor: formaldehyde and leukemia: missing evidence! Cancer Causes Control
Checkoway H, Bofetta P, Mundt DJ, Mundt KA (2012) Critical review and synthesis of the epidemiologic evidence on formaldehyde exposure and risk of leukemia and other lymphohematopoietic malignancies. Cancer Causes Control 23(11):1747–1766
Speit G, Gelbke H-P, Pallapies D, Morfeld D (2010) Letter to the editor: Occupational exposure to formaldehyde, hematotoxicity, and leukemia-specific changes in cultured myeloid progenitor cells. 19:1882–1884, (authors’ response 1884–1885)
Zhang L, Tang X, Rothman N, Vermeulen R, Ji Z, Shen M, Qui C, Guo W, Liu S, Reiss B et al (2010) Occupational exposure to formaldehyde, hematotoxicity, and leukemia-specific changes in cultured myeloid progenitor cells. Cancer Epidemiol Biomark Prev 19(1):80–88
Schwilk E, Zhang L, Smith MT, Smith AH, Steinmaus C (2010) Formaldehyde and leukemia: an updated meta-analysis and evaluation of bias. J Occup Environ Med 52(9):878–886
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Checkoway, H., Boffetta, P., Mundt, D.J. et al. Response letter to the Editor RE: Formaldehyde and leukemia: missing evidence!. Cancer Causes Control 24, 205 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-012-0112-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-012-0112-x