Objectives-The study was undertaken to update a previous study of employees from a resins and plastics research and development facility and to further examine the mortality of these employees with particular emphasis on deaths due to pancreatic cancer. Methods-This retrospective cohort study examined mortality from 1962 to 1992 for 257 men who were employed for at least one year during a 14 year period from 1962 to 1975 at a plastics and resins research and development facility. During the operative period, the primary activities involved applications and process development for polypropylene, polystyrene, epoxy resins, and to a lesser extent high density polyethylene. Results-The cohort was young and was followed up for an average of 26 years. Although mortality for all causes among employees who worked at least one year at this facility was low (standardised mortality ratio (SMR) 074), the death rate from cancer was moderately higher than that of the general population (14 observed and 9 4 expected deaths). This study shows no increased colorectal cancer mortality as was found among another group of workers involved in the manufacture of polypropylene. (Occup Environ Med 1994;51:799-803)
A retrospective mortality analysis and prospective morbidity and haematological analyses were performed for Shell Deer Park Manufacturing Complex (DPMC) male employees who worked in jobs with potential exposure to 1,3-butadiene from 1948 to 1989. 614 employees qualified for the mortality study , 438 of those were still employed during the period of the morbidity study , and 429 of those had haematological data available for analysis. Industrial hygiene data from 1979 to 1992 showed that most butadiene exposures did not exceed 10 ppm (eighthour time weighted average (8 hour TWA)), and most were below 1 ppm, with an arithmetic mean of 3-5 ppm. 24 deaths occurred during the mortality study period. For all causes of death, the standardised mortality ratio (SMR) was 48 (95% confidence interval (95% CI) = 31-72), and the all cancer SMR was 34 (95% CI = 9-87). There were only two deaths due to lung cancer (SMR 42, 95% CI = 5-151) and none due to lymphohaematopoietic cancer (expected = 1.2).Morbidity (illness absence) events of six days or more for the 438 butadiene employees were compared with the rest of the complex. No cause of morbidity was in excess for this group; the all cause standardised morbidity ratio (SMbR) was 85 (95% CI = 77-93) and the all neoplasms SMbR was 51 (95% CI = 22-100). Haematological results for the 429 with laboratory data were compared with results for the rest of the complex. No significant differences occurred between the two groups and the distributions of results between butadiene and non-butadiene groups were virtually identical.These results suggest that butadiene exposures at concentrations common at DPMC in the past 10-20 years do not pose a health hazard to employees.
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