Quick Response Evaluation of Energy Related Occupational Safety and Health Programs. Task Order 1: Mortality Study of 50 Workers Exposed to Coal Liquefaction Processes at a Union Carbide Plant, Institute, West Virginia

摘要

The vital status of a cohort of 50 Union Carbide employees who had been exposed to high boiling oils containing polycyclic hydrocarbons, coal tar, and pitch was studied. At the time of an initial study, 50 employees out of a total work force of 359 had lesions of some kind. Their status was redetermined 17 years later. Out of 10 workers with diagnosed skin cancer, two had died from noncancerous causes, two had retired (one was ill with lung cancer), five were still working, and one was lost to follow up. Those 40 subjects diagnosed as having precancerous skin lesions were distributed as follows: three had died from noncancerous causes, 13 had retired, 23 were still working, and one retiree was hospitalized with Parkinson's disease and cancer of the prostate. The authors conclude that it is possible that some of the workers who had not developed skin lesions at that time may have developed more serious organ cancers at a later date after the surveillance program was discontinued. Also, if retired workers were also included, more sensitivity could be achieved and selection bias could be controlled. Further sensitivity could be gained by increasing the sample size to include similarly exposed workers from other facilities where this process was operative during the same time period.