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An update of respiratory cancer and occupational exposure to arsenicals
Author(s) -
Sobel Wendy,
Bond Gregory G.,
Baldwin Charles L.,
Ducommun Dale J.
Publication year - 1988
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.4700130207
Subject(s) - medicine , occupational exposure , respiratory system , lung cancer , occupational cancer , occupational medicine , environmental health , toxicology , oncology , biology
Abstract Mortality was updated through 1982 for 611 arsenic‐exposed employees originally studied through 1973. In the earlier report, total mortality was observed to have been below the comparable U.S. population; however, mortality was significantly elevated for respiratory cancer. The focus of the update was on respiratory cancer and of special interest was whether the risk of respiratory cancer remained in excess for individuals alive as of the end of the last study. In the update, 9 additional respiratory cancers were observed subsequent to 1973, the end of the follow‐up in the original study, versus 7.8 expected. The risk ratio for the time‐interval 1974–1982 (standardized mortality ratio SMR = 116) was diminished compared to that reported in the original study (SMR = 330). When the entire study period was analyzed, the risk of respiratory cancer did not appear to decline with interval since exposure cessation. Analyses by duration of arsenic exposure and interval since first exposure did not reveal any obvious dose‐response relationships.