Mortality patterns among hard rock gold miners exposed to an asbestiform mineral.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Archer VE ; Blejer, Hector P. ; Dement, John M. ; Gillam JD ; Lemen RA ; Wagoner, Joseph K.
• Description:
  An epidemiological study was conducted by NIOSH on workers occupationally exposed to gold (7440575) mine dust, cummingtonite/grunerite, in a South Dakota facility. The cohort consisted of 440 workers over a 13 year period. Records of workers maintained by federal, state, and local government agencies and records from the Social Security Administration were utilized. Causes of death were interpreted from death certificates. A comparison was made between the observed number of deaths and the number expected on the basis of age, calendar time, and cause specific mortality rates for the general white male population. A total of 71 deaths occurred among the gold miners during the study period. An excess mortality was found in the category of respiratory diseases, and was attributable to non malignant diseases. A significant excess of respiratory tract cancer was demonstrated at each time interval since the beginning of underground mining. Bronchogenic carcinomas were the primary type of lung cancer among the gold miners. Analysis of airborne particles in the mine environment showed the presence of arsenic (7440382), chromium (7440473), and nickel (7440020), mainly from natural ores. The mean fiber content of airborne particulates was 4.14 to 5.5 fibers per meter. The fibers were mainly fibrous amphiboles and fibrous grunerite. Fibrous cummingtonite was present only up to 1 to 2 percent. The median fiber diameter and length were 0.13 and 1.1 micrometer, respectively. The authors conclude that a reevaluation of the current standard for airborne asbestos fibers is needed. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Dust Environmental Exposure Environmental Pollution Epidemiology Hazardous Substances Mining Mortality Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Biological-effects Dust-exposure Environmental-hazards Exposure-limits Health-hazards Industrial-exposures Mineral-dusts Mining-industry Mortality-rates NIOSH-Author Occupational-exposure

  More +
• ISBN:
  9780890720509
• ISSN:
  0077-8923
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 8 ; South Dakota ; Utah
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  336-344
• Volume:
  271
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00156853
• Citation:
  Ann NY Acad Sci 1976 May; 271(1):336-344
• CAS Registry Number:
  Arsenic (CAS RN 7440-38-2) ; Chromium (CAS RN 7440-47-3) ; Gold (CAS RN 7440-57-5) ; Nickel (CAS RN 7440-02-0)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1976
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:7cc95b059b2f4b2d778ca97f83500638dc31c2c9fa93723d1df011d480294938a801be042434bd43b6054bc983472c21ca7fc81a85ccaf68771c719e774ce58c
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/184941/cdc_184941_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 497.64 KB ]