Ten-Year Update on Mortality Among Mild-Steel Welders

Details

• Personal Author:
  Steenland, Kyle
• Description:
  This study is an update on the lung cancer risk of mild-steel welders with no asbestos exposure using a cohort of nonwelders for comparison. The subjects came from three United States (US) plants that manufactured heavy equipment. The follow-up was extended from 1988 to 1998. The welders were not exposed to asbestos (typical of shipyard welders) or to chromium or nickel (present in stainless steel). There were 108 lung cancer deaths among the welders and 128 such deaths among the nonwelders (double the previous number of lung cancer deaths). The standardized mortality ratio (SMR) for lung cancer was 1.46 [95% confidence interval (95% CI 1.20-1.76] for the welders and 1.18 (95% CI 0.98-1.40) for the nonwelders, both in comparison with the US general population. Direct comparison between the welders and nonwelders yielded a rate ratio of 1.22 (95% CI 0.93-1.59). Analyses using a 15-year lag time did not differ greatly from those of an unlagged analysis. There were no marked trends for lung cancer risk by duration of exposure or latency. Evidence from cross-sectional data from a sample of the cohort indicated that the welders smoked somewhat more than the US population and more than the nonwelders. An approximate adjustment of the rate ratios for possible confounding by smoking suggested that smoking may have accounted for about half of the excess lung cancer observed among the welders versus that of either reference population. These data provide suggestive but not conclusive evidence of a modest lung cancer risk from mild-steel welding. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Geology Mining Occupational Health Safety Software
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Lung Cancer Lung-cancer Lung-disease Mortality-data Mortality-rates Pulmonary-system-disorders Respiratory-system-disorders Smoking Welders Welders-lung Welding Welding-industry

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• ISSN:
  0355-3140
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  163-167
• Volume:
  28
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20023009
• Citation:
  Scand J Work Environ Health 2002 Jun; 28(3):163-167
• Contact Point Address:
  Dr. Kyle Steenland, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 4676 Columbia Parkway, Cincinnati, Ohio 45225, USA
• Email:
  nsteenland@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2002
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:776f69d8a60be6c6f7d078a7c5ad1794f3d75ca1fabaf4c98f98beafa141fcf97ebafb3976c20129b815f95f0e10360646fcdce336e8effa7b1252dc4a18ae74
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/199602/cdc_199602_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 93.45 KB ]