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Mesothelioma
Treatment
Abstracts
& Articles
Workplace
risk factors for cancer in the German
rubber industry: Part 1. Mortality from
respiratory cancers.
Occup
Environ Med 1998 May;55(5):317-24
Weiland
SK, Straif K, Chambless L, Werner B, Mundt
KA, Bucher A, Birk T, Keil U
Institute
of Epidemiology and Social Medicine,
University of Munster, Germany.
weilans@uni-muenster.de
OBJECTIVES:
To determine the cancer specific mortality
by work area among active and retired male
workers in the German rubber industry.
METHODS: A cohort of 11,663 male German
workers was followed up for mortality from
1 January 1981 to 31 December 1991. Cohort
members were classified as active (n =
7536) or retired (n = 4127) as of 1
January 1981 and had been employed for at
least one year in one of five study plants
producing tyres or technical rubber goods.
Work histories were reconstructed with
routinely documented "cost centre codes"
which were classified into six categories:
I preparation of materials; II production
of technical rubber goods; III production
of tyres; IV storage and dispatch; V
maintenance; and VI others. Standardised
mortality ratios (SMRs) adjusted for age
and calendar year and 95% confidence
intervals (95% CIs), stratified by work
area (employment in respective work area
for at least one year) and time related
variables (year of hire, lagged years of
employment in work area), were calculated
from national reference rates. RESULTS:
SMRs for laryngeal cancer were highest in
work area I (SMR 253; 95% CI 93 to 551)
and were significant among workers who
were employed for > 10 years in this
work area (SMR 330; 95% CI 107 to 779).
Increased mortality rates from lung cancer
were identified in work areas I (SMR 162;
95% CI 129 to 202), II (SMR 134; 95% CI
109 to 163), and V (SMR 131; 95% CI 102 to
167). Mortality from pleural cancer was
increased in all six work areas, and
significant excesses were found in work
areas I (SMR 448; 95% CI 122 to 1146), II
(SMR 505; 95% CI 202 to 1040), and V (SMR
554; 95% CI 179 to 1290). CONCLUSION: A
causal relation between the excess of
pleural cancer and exposure to asbestos
among rubber workers is plausible and
likely. In this study, the pattern of
excess of lung cancer parallels the
pattern of excess of pleural cancer. This
points to asbestos as one risk factor for
the excess deaths from lung cancer among
rubber workers. The study provides further
evidence for an increased mortality from
laryngeal cancer among workers in the
rubber industry, particularly in work area
I.
PMID:
9764109, UI: 98436600
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