Time-period mortality patterns in a gaseous diffusion plant workforce

Details

• Personal Author:
  Aldrich TE ; Bahr D ; Brion GM ; Freitas S ; Seidu D ; Tollerud D
• Description:
  BACKGROUND: We sub-divided a cohort of 6820 workers at the Paducah (KY) Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP) which was traced from 1953 to 2003. The subdivisions were made to assess the mortality risks in a sub-group of workers employed solely during the plant's refit period, a time of suspected higher exposure to metal dusts (nickel, arsenic, chromium and uranium) and trichloroethylene. METHODS: This article describes a comparison of exposures and causes of death for 754 workers employed exclusively during the period of 1975-1979, with 1554 workers who worked in this period as well as other years. This interval was when the gaseous diffusion cascade facilities were re-fit. The workers employed 'only' during this period have a variety of deterministic factors (age-at-hire, duration of employment) that distinguish this sub-group of employees from the 'long-term' workforce. RESULTS: The 'only 1975-1979' workers had a larger fraction of minorities and female workers. This 'only' sub-group was disproportionately employed in unskilled labor positions. The 'only' workers were younger than the referent group, and a 14-year earlier mean age at death. The all-cause mortality standardized rate ratio [SRR] was 1.58 [95% Cl: 0.97-2.42]. The 'only' group was significantly different from the 'ever' workers with respect to suicides, SRR = 3.74 [95% Cl: 1.86-6.69], and for homicides, SRR = 11.71 [95% Cl: 3.20-30.03]. CONCLUSIONS: These elevated mortality risks do not seem to be due to PGDP employment exposures to metal dusts or trichloroethylene. Socio-economic factors may be a determinant for the patterns of suicides and murders described for this sub-group of employees. These findings provide guidance for communities with a dominant local employer. Persons who experience short-term hiring may warrant public health services to mitigate their risk of tragic deaths. A case-control study of these deaths is recommended to clarify individual risk behaviors. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Arsenic Chromium Dust Epidemiology Inorganic Chemicals Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Men Metals Metals, Heavy Mortality Nickel Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Risk Assessment Safety Suicide Uranium Women

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• Keywords:
  Arsenic-compounds Author Keywords: Occupational Cohort Chromium-compounds Dust-exposure Heavy-metals Industrial-dusts Industrial-factory-workers Metal-dusts Mortality-data Mortality-rates Nickel-compounds Occupational-exposure Period Effect Region-4 Risk-analysis Statistical-analysis Uranium-compounds Workers

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• ISSN:
  1232-1087
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Kentucky ; OSHA Region 4 ; Tennessee
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  145-151
• Volume:
  23
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20037665
• Citation:
  Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2010 Aug; 23(2):145-151
• Contact Point Address:
  T.A. Aldrich, East Tennessee State University, College of Public Health, P.O. Box 70259, Johnson City, TN 37614-1709
• Email:
  aldrich@mail.etsu.edu
• CAS Registry Number:
  Arsenic (CAS RN 7440-38-2) ; Chromium (CAS RN 7440-47-3) ; Nickel (CAS RN 7440-02-0) ; Trichloroethylene (CAS RN 79-01-6) ; Uranium (CAS RN 7440-61-1)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2010
• Performing Organization:
  University of Louisville
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health
• End Date:
  20090630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:552a688811daa6c7acb7284cb21a90bfb50968fe59349ef645828f19af21804e9948a5cacd13c4bd29349ecb151c6f99f42d8bb1a2b398ea79c85263cdbda902
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/191663/cdc_191663_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 368.62 KB ]