Proportionate mortality among union members employed at three Texas refineries

Abstract

The cause‐specific mortality (1940–1993) of 2,985 male workers employed in three oil refineries was examined using a proportionate mortality study design. Separate analyses were undertaken by race, refinery, employment status (active and retired), and time since entry into the Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers (OCAW) union. Proportionate cancer mortality ratio (PCMR) analyses also were conducted. Proportionate mortality ratios (PMR) were significantly increased (P < 0.05) for cancers of the lip (PMR = 384), stomach (PMR = 142), unspecified sites of the liver (PMR = 238), pancreas (PMR = 151), connective tissues (PMR = 243), prostate (PMR = 135), eye (PMR = 407), brain (PMR = 181), benign and unspecified neoplasms (PMR = 289), and leukemia (PMR = 175) for the entire cohort. Significantly decreased mortality was observed for respiratory tuberculosis (PMR = 29), esophageal cancer (PMR = 45), rectal cancer (PMR = 49), and cancers of the bladder and other urinary organs (PMR = 40). Skin cancer was observed to be significantly increased (PMR = 242) for workers with less than 20 years since union initiation. Significantly increased PCMRs were seen for cancers of unspecified sites of the liver (PCMR = 205), brain (PCMR = 147), benign and unspecified neoplasms (PCMR = 243), and leukemia (PCMR = 146). Among nonwhites, an increased risk of bone cancer was observed in the PCMR analysis (PCMR = 704), although based on only two deaths. Analyses of mortality patterns for white males by refinery revealed similar patterns in each refinery as was seen in the overall cohort of refinery workers. Mortality patterns for whites and nonwhites also were similar. Additional analyses of deaths between 1960 and 1993 demonstrated increased mortality due to asbestosis (PMR = 683) and multiple myeloma (PMR = 124), although the multiple myeloma excess was not statistically significant. Ten deaths due to mesotheliomas were observed among these refinery workers. Am. J. Ind. Med. 33:327–340, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

The non-Hodgkin lymphomas: A review of the epidemiologic literature

“…Relative risks have been near unity in petroleum worker cohort studies in California, 177,178 Texas, [179][180][181] Louisiana, 182,183 US, [184][185][186] Canada 187,188 and Australia. 189 Inconsistent nonsignificant associations were found in an updated (1970-1997) mortality cohort study of 2 refinery/petrochemical plants (SMR for Baton Rouge facility 5 1.47, 95% CI: 0.98-2.11; SMR for Baytown facility 5 0.84, 95% CI: 0.47-1.39).…”

Occupational exposure to gasoline and the risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma: A review and meta-analysis of the literature

“…English-language articles published in peer-reviewed journals up to October 2009 were included if relative risks of NHL associated with gasoline-exposed occupations/industries were reported with corresponding confidence intervals; or sufficient data were available to estimate these statistics. Reasons for exclusion were non-English articles [3] and studies which estimated proportional risks [4][5][6].…”

Commentary: The Injury Proportion Ratio: What's It All About?

“…In an analysis of construction injuries reported as workers' compensation cases, Dement et al, 18 Lipscomb and Li, 19 and Lombardi et al 20 compared the observed causes of injury among teen construction workers with those expected from a referent population of adult construction workers.…”