Mortality Experience of a Young Petrochemical Industry Cohort: 1979-1992 Follow-Up Study of US-Based Employees

This retrospective study examines the mortality patterns of a relative young cohort of 81,746 former and current petrochemical company employees. Standardized mortality ratios (SMR)for 1979 through 1992 are generally from about unity to well below unity for major causes and numerous specific causes...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of occupational and environmental medicine 1997-10, Vol.39 (10), p.970-982
Main Authors: Huebner, Wendy W., Schnatter, A. Robert, Nicolich, Mark J., Jorgensen, Gail
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accidents, Occupational - mortality
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome - mortality
Adult
Analysis. Health state
Biological and medical sciences
Cause of Death
Chemical Industry
Cohort Studies
Epidemiology
Female
Follow-Up Studies
General aspects
Humans
Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell - chemically induced
Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell - mortality
Male
Medical sciences
Mesothelioma - chemically induced
Mesothelioma - mortality
Middle Aged
Occupational Diseases - chemically induced
Occupational Diseases - mortality
ORIGINAL ARTICLES
Petroleum - adverse effects
Pleural Neoplasms - chemically induced
Pleural Neoplasms - mortality
Public health. Hygiene
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
Retrospective Studies
Survival Analysis
United States - epidemiology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This retrospective study examines the mortality patterns of a relative young cohort of 81,746 former and current petrochemical company employees. Standardized mortality ratios (SMR)for 1979 through 1992 are generally from about unity to well below unity for major causes and numerous specific causes of death studied by gender/race/job subgroups. Findings of note include a SMR (based on incidence rates) of 1.94 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.04 to 3.33) for mesothelioma, and a SMR of 1.81 (95% CI, 0.90 to 3.24) for chronic lymphocytic leukemia, both among males hired before 1960. All male semiskilled operatives have a 1.6-fold increase (95% CI, 1.07 to 2.29) in motor vehicle accident deaths, with declining rates since the mid-1980s. The overall SMR for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is at unity (69 deaths), with excesses in technician and office worker subgroups. Four decedents with lymphoma (code 202.8 in 9th revision ICD) had AIDS as a secondary cause of death, suggesting the need to examine secondary causes when studying lymphopoietic conditions. This routine surveillance activity provides leads regarding the presence or absence of exces mortality risk.
ISSN:1076-2752
1536-5948
DOI:10.1097/00043764-199710000-00009