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Cause‐specific mortality and cancer morbidity in 390 male workers exposed to high purity talc, a six‐decade follow‐up
Author(s) -
Wergeland Ebba,
Gjertsen Finn,
Vos Linda,
Grimsrud Tom K.
Publication year - 2017
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.22749
Subject(s) - medicine , pneumoconiosis , cohort , standardized mortality ratio , cohort study , talc , population , epidemiology , occupational disease , cancer , lung cancer , norwegian , environmental health , pathology , linguistics , materials science , philosophy , composite material
Background This study updates information on mortality and cancer morbidity in a cohort of Norwegian talc workers. Methods Follow‐up was extended with 24 years, covering 1953‐2011. Comparisons were made with the general population and between subgroups within the cohort. Results Standardized mortality ratio for non‐malignant respiratory disease (NMRD) was 0.38 (95%CI: 0.18, 0.69) and for diseases of the circulatory system (CVD) 0.98 (95%CI: 0.82, 1.16). A non‐significantly increased NMRD risk was observed at high dust exposures. There were no deaths from pneumoconiosis. Conclusions With the clear limitations of a small cohort, our results do hint at an effect of talc dust on mortality from NMRD other than pneumoconiosis, covered by a strong and persisting healthy worker effect. Also, an effect on CVD mortality, masked by a healthy worker selection into the cohort cannot be ruled out. Excess mortality from pneumoconiosis seen in other studies, may reflect exposure to quartz and, possibly, bias due to comparability problems.