Mortality of aluminum reduction plant workers, 1950 through 1977

Journal Article · Tue Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1985 · JOM, J. Occup. Med.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5526402

Gibbs, G W

The mortality experience of 5,406 men (cohort I) employed at one aluminum smelter on Jan. 1, 1950, and 485 men employed at a second plant (cohort II) on January 1, 1951, is reported. For each man, the total number of years of exposure to tars, the number of years since first exposure to tars, and an index of exposure to tars expressed in tar-years were calculated. More than 99% of the men in the first cohort and 98% of the men in the second cohort were traced. Of the 1539 men in cohort I who were deceased as of December 31, 1977, death certificates were obtained for 1432 (93%). Of the 92 men in cohort II who were deceased as of December 31, 1977, death certificates were obtained for 80 (87%). The results showed that men in cohort I died of the following causes at approximately the same rate as or less frequently than men of similar age in the Province of Quebec: tuberculosis; circulatory disease; hypertensive heart disease; trauma; leukemia and aleukemia; and malignant neoplasms of the pancreas, genital organs, brain, intestine, and rectum and other abdominal areas. There were no deaths from pneumoconiosis or Alzheimer's disease. Although the observed and expected numbers of deaths in some of the cause-of-death categories were small, men in cohort I died of the following causes more frequently than did men of similar age in the Province of Quebec: respiratory disease; pneumonia and bronchitis; malignant neoplasms (all sites); malignant neoplasms of the stomach and esophagus, bladder, and lung; other malignant neoplasms; Hodgkin's disease; and other hypertensive disease. Mortality from malignant neoplasms of the bladder and lung was meaningfully related to numbers of tar-years and of years of exposure. Exposure-response relationships were less clear for malignant neoplasms of the esophagus and stomach and for other malignancies.

• OSTI ID: 5526402
• Journal Information: JOM, J. Occup. Med.; (United States), Journal Name: JOM, J. Occup. Med.; (United States) Vol. 10; ISSN JJOMD
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

560306* -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology-- Man-- (-1987)
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ALUMINIUM
BLADDER
BODY
BRONCHITIS
CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES
DISEASES
ELEMENTS
EPIDEMIOLOGY
HAZARDS
HEALTH HAZARDS
HODGKINS DISEASE
HYPERTENSION
LUNGS
LYMPHOMAS
METALLURGY
METALS
MORTALITY
NEOPLASMS
OCCUPATIONAL DISEASES
OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANS
OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PERSONNEL
PNEUMONIA
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM DISEASES
SMELTERS
SYMPTOMS
TAR
URINARY TRACT
VASCULAR DISEASES