Health Hazard Evaluation Report HETA 90-390-2065, MHETA 86-012-2065, R. T.Vanderbilt Company, Gouverneur, New York

摘要

In response to a request from the R. T. Vanderbilt Company (SIC-1499),Gouverneur, New York, to update the 1980 NIOSH study of employees involved in talc mining, mortality data was collected for employees to assess possible hazardous working conditions. There were 710 white males who had worked one day or more between 1947 and 1978. Vital status was determined for the entire cohort and the cause of death was determined for all but 5 individuals. Followup was ascertained through 1983 at which time 161 of the members of the cohort were dead. When compared to U.S. white male mortality rates, there were statistically significant increases in all causes combined, all nonmalignant respiratory disease, and lung cancer. The standardized mortality ratio (SMR) for lung cancer was slightly higher for the workers with tenure of employment less than 1 year compared to workers with greater than 1 year. The lung cancer risk was higher in those with 20 or more years of latency than in those with less than 20 years of latency. The SMR for nonmalignant respiratory disease was significantly elevated among those with more than 1 year of tenure. The magnitude of the risk for both lung cancer and nonmalignant respiratory disease indicated that the workplace exposures at the company were in part associated with these excesses in mortality. According to the authors, the results support the findings of an excess risk for lung cancer and nonmalignant respiratory disease observed in these workers in 1980.