Document 2RnkMJKbbQM81OBgMgXp04a4p

FILE NAME: Abex (ABX) DATE: 1977 Oct DOC#: ABX066 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Unpublished or Internal Report - A Retrospective Cohort Study of Mortality in Workers Exposed to Asbestos - Executive Summary 4 A tro'-.pcrtlv.1 Cohort Study of M a r m i U y ir Workers r.>|*o-.ul to Asia* ton - SRI Project No. OHC ( 'A 2 ) - `A M Executive Summ.iry Tlir r .o r i .i ll lV experlcnr< o f p la n i ir. I i o y , Ne Ymk w.i:i cmploywnt nt th p lani miti .v.'ociole! w ltli fxpuMiri lo nr lu ng c a n c e r . l'I d i presene nml pani w cik crs at lh<> Rendix s tu d ie d . No r e ln t lo n s h t j w.is found betw/en th occurrencc of dcaths fio thosc discacus .is h e o to s ; th u t I n , from s h e s t o s l , osollui 11orna, w< r< :*> d> itl.r. trim asl.eston 1k or m ost.helloa. There was a s l i g h t t>. , ...... r - m t . i i l l y 1row limp *.H i r e r . hut I t wai p r e a t i s t In those men with the shortest periods of employment and the shortest latency period and Is therefore not consistent with an occupational association. There was a -.tat 1st leal 1y sip,nil leant exccsr mortnl'.ty from all cancers tepether, hut this ex ess for all cancers e m b l n o d is the result of excess mortality from cancers of specific sites, at I In any cast was greatest in tlitlie with the uluirte'il period:, of employment. There were, however, two specific cancer sites that showd excess xortalliy which was consistent witt an occupational explanation. The first was brain cancer (5 deaths), and the second was a type of skin cancer known as mallpr.mt melanoma (2 deaths). In both cases, the excess was greatest In men with the longest employment and displayed the kind of latent period which Is consistent with an occupational origin. However, mortality from these causes has never been associated with asbestos exposure In previous stu`lcs. In the case of the brain cancers, the excess w.v. such that it could not have p,one unnoticed hud It occurred in previous .viheMon studies. As far ns Is known, the only occupational exposure . ssocintcd with the o. c u t rente of brnln c.mr< r is vinyl chloride. The malignant melanomas nr^ usually ra.iscd by sut.llp.bt, altltnagh it Ims h.-en suggested that they might arise from pet rocli. mlcnl exposures. In summary, there Is no pattern of mortality suggestInp an ^besto s - r c l a t e d occupational basard. Tit re Is an excess mortality whirl, could be asso ciated with some occupational exposure other than asbestos, although the scientific literature suggests no obvious mechanism. It Is most strongly rccor mended that the work histories of these men be examined in the greatest possible detail to ru:e out the !poss biI ity Ithat there might la fact have been some common exposures which would imply an occupational origin for these two types of can:cr. * M T-000002 2 M T-000003