Levels of CEA among vinyl chloride and polyvinyl chloride exposed workers

Conference · Fri Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1978 · Cancer, Suppl.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6468774

Anderson, H A ^[1]; Snyder, J; Lewinson, T; Woo, C; Lilis, R; Selikoff, I J

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1. City Univ. of New York, NY

In 1974, vinyl chloride exposed workers were found to have an increased risk of malignant disease (hemangiosarcoma of the liver). We have examined 1,147 workers exposed to vinyl chloride monomer in three VC/PVC polymerization plants, and 269 workers from a PVC extrusion plant manufacturing PVC textile leather, exposed to much lower concentrations of vinyl chloride. Included among the comprehensive clinical and laboratory studies conducted was the CEA titer. We obtained, respectively, 1,115 and 248 CEA titers. Multiple factors were demonstrated which affected the distribution of CEA titers. Cigarette use had the greatest effect, followed by history of specific past illnesses and alcohol intake history. After removing these possible confounding effects, the distribution of CEA titers among the polymerization workers was significantly different from the extrusion plant group and from an unexposed comparison group. Of the six job categories analyzed, only production and maintenance workers had CEA titer distributions significantly different from the comparison group and the extrusion workers. The investigation demonstrates that occupational exposures in VC/PVC polymerization plants can cause elevations in the CEA titers of otherwise healthy individuals. Prospective follow-up is necessary before conclusions can be drawn concerning the usefulness of the CEA titer as a predictive indicator of possible increased risk.

• OSTI ID: 6468774
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Cancer, Suppl.; (United States) Journal Volume: 42:3
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020600 -- Petroleum-- Health & Safety
550900 -- Pathology
560306* -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology-- Man-- (-1987)
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ANTIGENS
BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS
CARCINOGENESIS
CARCINOGENS
CHLORINATED ALIPHATIC HYDROCARBONS
DISEASES
EPIDEMIOLOGY
HALOGENATED ALIPHATIC HYDROCARBONS
HAZARDS
HEALTH HAZARDS
MAINTENANCE
MANUFACTURING
MONITORING
MONOMERS
OCCUPATIONAL DISEASES
ORGANIC CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC POLYMERS
PATHOGENESIS
PATHOLOGICAL CHANGES
PERSONNEL MONITORING
PETROCHEMICALS
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
PLASTICS
POLYMERS
POLYVINYLS
PRODUCTION
PVC
RADIATION MONITORING
TOXICITY
VINYL MONOMERS