Study of mortality among chemical workers in the Kanawha Valley of West Virginia.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Greenberg H ; Halperin, William E. ; Leet T ; Ott G ; Rinsky RA ; Ward E
• Description:
  Mortality patterns among Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) chemical workers at three facilities in the Kanawha Valley of West Virginia were investigated. The study cohort involved 29,139 men who were employed for at least 1 day between January 1, 1940 and December 31, 1978. Vital status was determined for the workers, and the cause of death for deceased workers was determined from death certificates. As of the end of the study period, 5,785 workers were found to have died. Standardized mortality ratios were calculated. Mortality for specific causes of death was compared to the United States white male population. An excess number of deaths caused by liver cancer (12 versus the expected 1.2) was noted with a possible connection to exposure to vinyl-chloride (75014). These cases occurred primarily in persons with 10 years or more employment in polyvinyl-chloride resins production. An excess in the number of deaths due to lymphosarcoma and reticulosarcoma was also noted with no apparent trend relating these diseases to initial exposures to specific chemicals or to the duration of employment being clear at present. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Epidemiology Liver Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Mortality Neoplasms Occupational Health Risk Assessment Safety
• Keywords:
  Cancer-rates Chemical-industry-workers Chemical-manufacturing-industry Liver-cancer Mortality-rates Mortality-surveys NIOSH-Author Reticuloendothelial-system-disorders Risk-analysis
• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; Virginia ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  429-438
• Volume:
  13
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00179509
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 1988; 13(4):429-438
• CAS Registry Number:
  Vinyl chloride (CAS RN 75-01-4)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1988
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:dd1bf2c21eadddced8bd242ac47711674116e8d329540024a9a3d5c0dc9e99e5c0234eccd8f1d51c135db5e028ac10bbb4f6c5f4cfc16830cffc8afcdd528960
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/185510/cdc_185510_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 527.89 KB ]