Document N26J1Jpd11dBaZq1xRMMnYZ0w

"ts 184 ASBESTOS-DUST EXPOSURES--ENTERLINE & KENDRICK different states were involved in the death certificate search. No doubt the quality of the records and the diligence with which the search was made differed somewhat from state to state. Diagnostic fashions probably also differ from area to area, so that some of the deviations from nationally derived ex pected numbers of deaths for specified causes could be due to the fact that diag nostic criteria differed somewhat from place to place. , The mortality experience for the cohorts shown in Table 1 were accumulated starting with entry into the study some time between 1948 and 1951 and ending on June 30, 1963. The number ofdeaths by cause and by peri od in which they occurred are shown in Ta ble 2. There were increasing numbers of deaths with time, as would be expected in a population that is aging and which is losing some of its initial advantage of being healthy enough to work. This increase with time is also apparent for most causes except vi olence, where one might expect not much of a trend. Deaths due to cencer increased for all four industries, although the increase was quite modest for cotton textile products workers. On only one of 1,853 death cer tificates examined did the term "mesotheli oma" appear, and this was for a worker in the asbestos building products industry. Cancer of the respiratory system in creased with time in all industries except among workers in cotton textile products plants. Changes in specific causes of death with time might, of course, be in part an arti fact due to changes in diagnostic criteria, even within the same area of the United States. The deaths for which the underlying cause was asbestosis appear to have in creased for workers in asbestos building products and asbestos textile produi shows little trend for asbestos frictioffl rials. Person-years experience by age od appear in Table 3. Use was made o: data in computing expected num deaths by age and cause by applying white male age-cause specific death rai; the years 1950, 1955, and 1960 to years experience accumulated by ages appropriate time periods. Ratios of obj to expected number of deaths (X lj shown on Table 4. These Standardize^ tality Ratios (SMRs) were calculate each of the causes of death in Table the exception that ratios are not she asbestosis since the overall mortality, f cause in the United States is extremel; The cohort of 21,755 workers produce? deaths with asbestosis listed as the uni ing cause at ages under 65 and 50 ash deaths at all ages, while the total nuriij deaths due to asbestosis recorded white males at all ages for the entire States during the 13-year period 19 1962 was 160. Thus, this cohort coni only a tiny fraction of the white male population produced nearly a third deaths due to asbestosis in the United during the study period. For Table 4, death certificates whichi not be located were distributed by causqj those which were located within each d four industrial classifications. It is known whether any appreciable bias is. if! duced by this procedure, however, in vie: the fact that failure to locate deaths tificates was probably in most instances, to administrative reasons it might be arj that the unlocated certificates were tially a sample of the whole. Table 3.--Person Years of Experience Through June 30,1963, for White Males Aged IS to 64,i Who Worked In US Selected US Asbestos and Cotton Textile Plants at Some Time During 1948-1951, by Age Group and Calendar Period Asbestos Building.Products Asbestos Friction Materials Age in Calendar Period 19481952 19531957 19581963 19481952 19531957 19581963 Total 15-64 51,357 58,934 60,908 29,341 34,902 35,361 15-24 9,692 2,600 13 4,202 1,448 12 25-34 19,308 23,641 14,094 9,636 11,877 7,136 35-44 12,098 17,924 24,817 7,673 10,936 13,334 45-54 6,736 9,968 14,681 4,618 6,785 9,816 55-64 3,523 4,801 7,303 3,212 3,856 5,063 Asbestos Textile Products 19481952 7,094 969 2,287 2,100 1,174 - 564 19531957 8,605 454 2,499 2,965 1,827 860 19581963 8,716 2 1,646 3,173 2,665 1,230 Cotton Textile Prodtictsjj 19481952 19531957 if l'?l 25,516 29,258 29M 5,080 2,249 ^ 7,057 9,333 Tjf 6,366 7,845 . 9fl 4,411 6,423 7(1 2,602 3,408 . Arch Environ Health--Vol 15, Aug 1967