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Follow-up study of chrysotile textile workers: cohort mortality and exposure-response.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Hein, MJ; Stayner, LT; Lehman, E; Dement, JM
Published in: Occup Environ Med
September 2007

OBJECTIVES: This report provides an update of the mortality experience of a cohort of South Carolina asbestos textile workers. METHODS: A cohort of 3072 workers exposed to chrysotile in a South Carolina asbestos textile plant (1916-77) was followed up for mortality through 2001. Standardised mortality ratios (SMRs) were computed using US and South Carolina mortality rates. A job exposure matrix provided calendar time dependent estimates of chrysotile exposure concentrations. Poisson regression models were fitted for lung cancer and asbestosis. Covariates considered included sex, race, age, calendar time, birth cohort and time since first exposure. Cumulative exposure lags of 5 and 10 years were considered by disregarding exposure in the most recent 5 and 10 years, respectively. RESULTS: A majority of the cohort was deceased (64%) and 702 of the 1961 deaths occurred since the previous update. Mortality was elevated based on US referent rates for a priori causes of interest including all causes combined (SMR 1.33, 95% CI 1.28 to 1.39); all cancers (SMR 1.27, 95% CI 1.16 to 1.39); oesophageal cancer (SMR 1.87, 95% CI 1.09 to 2.99); lung cancer (SMR 1.95, 95% CI 1.68 to 2.24); ischaemic heart disease (SMR 1.20, 95% CI 1.10 to 1.32); and pneumoconiosis and other respiratory diseases (SMR 4.81, 95% CI 3.84 to 5.94). Mortality remained elevated for these causes when South Carolina referent rates were used. Three cases of mesothelioma were observed among cohort members. Exposure-response modelling for lung cancer, using a linear relative risk model, produced a slope coefficient of 0.0198 (fibre-years/ml) (standard error 0.00496), when cumulative exposure was lagged 10 years. Poisson regression modelling confirmed significant positive relations between estimated chrysotile exposure and lung cancer and asbestosis mortality observed in previous updates of this cohort. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms the findings from previous investigations of excess mortality from lung cancer and asbestosis and a strong exposure-response relation between estimated exposure to chrysotile and mortality from lung cancer and asbestosis.

Duke Scholars

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Published In

Occup Environ Med

DOI

EISSN

1470-7926

Publication Date

September 2007

Volume

64

Issue

9

Start / End Page

616 / 625

Location

England

Related Subject Headings

  • Textile Industry
  • Occupational Exposure
  • Occupational Diseases
  • Middle Aged
  • Male
  • Lung Neoplasms
  • Humans
  • Female
  • Epidemiologic Methods
  • Environmental & Occupational Health
 

Citation

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Hein, M. J., Stayner, L. T., Lehman, E., & Dement, J. M. (2007). Follow-up study of chrysotile textile workers: cohort mortality and exposure-response. Occup Environ Med, 64(9), 616–625. https://doi.org/10.1136/oem.2006.031005
Hein, Misty J., Leslie T. Stayner, Everett Lehman, and John M. Dement. “Follow-up study of chrysotile textile workers: cohort mortality and exposure-response.Occup Environ Med 64, no. 9 (September 2007): 616–25. https://doi.org/10.1136/oem.2006.031005.
Hein MJ, Stayner LT, Lehman E, Dement JM. Follow-up study of chrysotile textile workers: cohort mortality and exposure-response. Occup Environ Med. 2007 Sep;64(9):616–25.
Hein, Misty J., et al. “Follow-up study of chrysotile textile workers: cohort mortality and exposure-response.Occup Environ Med, vol. 64, no. 9, Sept. 2007, pp. 616–25. Pubmed, doi:10.1136/oem.2006.031005.
Hein MJ, Stayner LT, Lehman E, Dement JM. Follow-up study of chrysotile textile workers: cohort mortality and exposure-response. Occup Environ Med. 2007 Sep;64(9):616–625.

Published In

Occup Environ Med

DOI

EISSN

1470-7926

Publication Date

September 2007

Volume

64

Issue

9

Start / End Page

616 / 625

Location

England

Related Subject Headings

  • Textile Industry
  • Occupational Exposure
  • Occupational Diseases
  • Middle Aged
  • Male
  • Lung Neoplasms
  • Humans
  • Female
  • Epidemiologic Methods
  • Environmental & Occupational Health