Premium
The Drake Health Registry Study: Cause‐specific mortality experience of workers potentially exposed to beta‐naphthylamine
Author(s) -
Cassidy Laura D.,
Youk Ada O.,
Marsh Gary M.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.10268
Subject(s) - medicine , standardized mortality ratio , bladder cancer , confidence interval , epidemiology , cohort , cohort study , cancer , cause of death , demography , disease , sociology
Objective To examine the cause‐specific mortality experience of an occupational cohort with probable past exposure to beta‐naphythylamine (BNA). Methods Subjects were 374 male and 26 female workers employed at a Pennsylvania chemical plant that produced or used beta‐naphthylamine (BNA) between 1940 and 1981. Vital status through 1998 was determined for 97.5% of the cohort and cause of death for 100% of 79 deaths. Limited industrial hygiene data and reports from former employees were used to categorize workers as high, medium, or low risk for BNA exposure. Statistical analyses included US and local county‐based standardized mortality ratios (SMRs). Results We observed statistically significantly elevated county rate‐based SMRs for all causes combined (SMR = 1.98, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.56–2.49), all malignant neoplasms combined (28 deaths, SMR = 3.08, 95% CI = 2.05–4.46), respiratory system cancer (12 deaths, SMR = 3.91, 95% CI = 2.02–6.83), and bladder cancer (four deaths, SMR = 16.83, 95% CI = 4.59–43.1). Three bladder cancer cases were classified as high risk (SMR = 26.79, 95% CI = 5.53–78.29). Mortality risks were also elevated for most other malignant and non‐malignant cause of death categories examined. Conclusions Bladder cancer risk remains highly elevated among Drake/Kilsdonk workers and appears to be causally related to past BNA exposure. While lifestyle and behavioral risk factors may explain some of the mortality excesses for non‐urological cancers, the possibility remains that BNA exposure may have also played a role in these and other observed cancer excesses. Am. J. Ind. Med. 44:282–290, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.