Silicosis and lung cancer among workers in North Carolina dusty trades

Details

• Personal Author:
  Amandus HE ; Blair, Austin ; Castellan, Robert M. ; Heineman EF ; Shy C
• Description:
  A study of silicosis and lung cancer among North Carolina (NC) workers employed in dusty trades was conducted. The cohort consisted of 760 males employed in dusty trades, defined as foundry work and the mining, quarrying, stone crushing, asbestos (1332214) and silica (14808607) product manufacturing, and construction industries, who were diagnosed by the NC Industrial Commission between 1940 and 1983. The vital status of the cohort was determined at the end of 1983. Death certificates were obtained for the decedents and reviewed. Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) were calculated using mortality rates of the general white male United States (US) population and a group of 9,543 white NC male nonsilicotic miners as the reference groups. A total of 550 silicotics had died by the end of the followup period. When compared to US rates, mortality was significantly increased for tuberculosis, intestinal cancer, pneumonia, bronchitis, emphysema, pneumoconiosis and other respiratory diseases, and infectious kidney disease, SMRs 30.7, 2.3, 2.4, 7.9, 3.6, 32.9, and 6.5, respectively. Mortality from lung cancer was significantly increased when compared with both US and NC rates, SMRs 2.6 and 3.0, respectively. The lung cancer SMR was 2.3 for silicotics who had no known exposure to other carcinogens and 4.5 for those who had been exposed to asbestos or other workplace carcinogens. The lung cancer SMR was 3.4 for silicotics with a history of smoking and 1.7 for nonsmokers. For those diagnosed with silicosis during their employment in a dusty trade, the lung cancer SMR was 2.5, a significantly increased risk. For those diagnosed after leaving employment, the lung cancer SMR was 2.9, a nonsignificant increase. The authors conclude that the results of this analysis, which has effectively controlled for age, smoking, exposure to other carcinogens, and detection bias, are consistent with the view that silicosis is associated with an increased risk of lung cancer. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Dust Epidemiology Lung Lung Diseases Mortality Neoplasms Occupational Health Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Silicosis

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• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Dusty Trades Dust-exposure Humans Lung-cancer Lung Cancer Mortality-data NIOSH-Author Respiratory-system-disorders Risk-factors Silicosis Surveillance-programs

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• ISSN:
  0355-3140
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Maryland ; North Carolina ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DRDS - Division of Respiratory Disease Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  81-83
• Volume:
  21
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00230581
• Citation:
  Scand J Work Environ Health 1995 Sep; 21(Suppl 2):81-83
• Contact Point Address:
  Dr HE Amandus, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 944 Chestnut Ridge Road, Mailstop P 1133, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA
• CAS Registry Number:
  Asbestos (CAS RN 1332-21-4) ; Quartz (SiO2) (CAS RN 14808-60-7)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1995
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health
• Supplement:
  2
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:93c4efc430090229ef80e3a1c9ce80ca9b610bed5188c63327a24b5174524cb9256842a389fc1ee18f6474e23889f5326f8c186b9c6c4c53b30b3f50b899d01a
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/205598/cdc_205598_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 252.82 KB ]