Mortality Among Workers at the Savannah River Site

Details

• Personal Author:
  Richardson DB ; Wing S ; Wolf S
• Description:
  Background: Workers employed at the Savannah River Site (SRS) were potentially exposed to a range of chemical and physical hazards, many of which are poorly characterized.We therefore compared the observed deaths among workers to expectations based upon death rates for referent populations. Methods: The cohort included 18,883 SRS workers hired between 1950 and 1986. Vital status and cause of death information were ascertained through 2002. Sex-specific standardized mortality ratios (SMR) were computed usingU.S. and South Carolinamortality rates. SMRs were tabulated separately for monthly-, weekly-, and hourly-paid men. Results: Males had fewer deaths from all causes [SMR=0.80, 90% confidence interval (CI): 0.78, 0.82], all cancers (SMR=0.85, 90% CI: 0.81, 0.89), and lung cancer (SMR=0.88, 90%CI: 0.82, 0.95) than expected based upon US mortality rates. The SMR for cancer of the pleura was 4.25 (90% CI: 1.99, 7.97) for men. The SMR for leukemia was greater than unity for monthly-paid (SMR=1.33, 90% CI: 0.88, 1.93) and hourly-paid (SMR=1.36, 90% CI: 1.02, 1.78) men. Female workers had fewer deaths from all causes (SMR=0.75, 90%CI: 0.69, 0.82) than expected, but more deaths than expected from cancer of the kidney (SMR=2.58, 90%CI: 1.21, 4.84) and skin (SMR=3.90, 90%CI: 2.11, 6.61). Conclusions: While the observed numbers of deaths in most categories of cause of death were less than expected, there are greater than expected numbers of deaths due to cancer of the pleura and leukemia, particularly among hourly-paid male workers. It is plausible that occupational hazards, including asbestos and ionizing radiation, contribute to these excesses. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Asbestos Blood Dust Epidemiology Kidney Diseases Lung Lung Diseases Men Mortality Neoplasms Nuclear Power Plants Occupational Diseases Occupational Health Radiation Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Skin Skin Diseases Urogenital Diseases Urogenital System Women

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• Keywords:
  Asbestos-dust Author Keywords: Cohort Studies Cancer Cancer-rates Ionizing-radiation Kidney-disorders Leukemogenesis Lung-cancer Mortality-data Mortality-rates Mortality Study Nuclear-energy Nuclear-hazards Nuclear-power-plants Nuclear-radiation Occupational-diseases Occupational Diseases Pleural-cavity Region-4 Savannah River Site Skin-cancer Statistical-analysis

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• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  North Carolina ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  50
• Issue:
  12
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20033198
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2007 Dec; 50(12):881-891
• Contact Point Address:
  David B. Richardson, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599
• Email:
  david.richardson@unc.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2008
• NORA Priority Area:
  Research Tools and Approaches: Cancer Research Methods
• Performing Organization:
  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20020930
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• End Date:
  20060929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e2ad6675166fdb7dfdf34f11b108a76a30e8283d19a15d97550293c820907688cabab250909efedbc6ea41b899f077f7bed4583fdc3335d9d0d0e9cc1f4e9404
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/188868/cdc_188868_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 130.90 KB ]