A mortality study of workers at seven beryllium processing plants

Journal Article · Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1992 · American Journal of Industrial Medicine; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/ajim.4700220610· OSTI ID:6789550

Ward, E; Okun, A; Ruder, A; Fingerhut, M; Steenland, K ^[1]

---

1. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, OH (United States)

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has found that the evidence for the carcinogenicity of beryllium is sufficient based on animal data but limited based on human data. This analysis reports on a retrospective cohort mortality study among 9,225 male workers employed at seven beryllium processing facilities for at least 2 days between January 1, 1940, and December 31, 1969. Vital status was ascertained through December 31, 1988. The standardized mortality ratio (SMR) for lung cancer in the total cohort was 1.26 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.12-1.42); significant SMRs for lung cancer were observed for two of the oldest plants located in Lorain, Ohio (SMR = 1.69; 95% CI = 1.28-2.19) and Reading, Pennsylvania (SMR = 1.24; 95% CI = 1.03-1.48). For the overall cohort, significantly elevated SMRs were found for all deaths (SMR = 1.05; 95% CI = 1.01-1.08), ischemic heart disease (SMR = 1.08; 95% CI = 1.01-1.14), pneumoconiosis and other respiratory diseases (SMR = 1.48; 95% CI = 1.21-1.80), and chronic and unspecified nephritis, renal failure, and other renal sclerosis (SMR = 1.49; 95% CI = 1.00-2.12). Lung cancer SMRs did not increase with longer duration of employment, but did increase with longer latency (time since first exposure). Lung cancer was particularly elevated (SMR = 3.33; 95% CI = 1.66-5.95) among workers at the Lorain plant with a history of (primarily) acute beryllium disease, which is associated with very high beryllium exposure. The lung cancer excess was not restricted to plants operating in the 1940s, when beryllium exposures were known to be extraordinarily high. Elevated lung cancer SMRs were also observed for four of the five plants operating in the 1950s for workers hired during that decade. Neither smoking nor geographic location fully explains the increased lung cancer risk. Occupational exposure to beryllium compounds is the most plausible explanation for the increased risk of lung cancer observed in this study.

• OSTI ID: 6789550
• Journal Information: American Journal of Industrial Medicine; (United States), Vol. 22:6; ISSN 0271-3586
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
BERYLLIUM
CARCINOGENESIS
OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE
LUNGS
NEOPLASMS
BERYLLIOSIS
CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES
CHEMICAL INDUSTRY
NEPHRITIS
OCCUPATIONAL DISEASES
OHIO
PENNSYLVANIA
ALKALINE EARTH METALS
BODY
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
DISEASES
ELEMENTS
INDUSTRY
METALS
NORTH AMERICA
ORGANS
PATHOGENESIS
PNEUMOCONIOSES
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM DISEASES
UROGENITAL SYSTEM DISEASES
USA
560300* - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology
550500 - Metabolism