Document R27J0jRJQ7Qp0LaGG88az9oO8

R&S 110793 BIO-MEDICAL RESEARCH DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION FORM 63 Duplicate in all cards: --? 68 69 ooon&fe76 year as-1961- File number [Right justify [Numeric only] 77 78 Sub-Index Code Author(s), as Last Name FS (No Punctuation) and coden for journal as JAMA preceeded by one blank space 1_____ . 20 21 _______ 40 41 ______________________ 60 61 62 11 12 13 Title of Report; end with space-hyphen-hyphen-space. Follow with Index Terms, separated from each other with comma-space. Avoid other punctuation; do not abbreviate. l2 61 21 forty$/= 22 23 py L-trfc/'z ^ ^y/<z-/rrtrc<f -- Xocissy 24 Source (Journal, Vol., Number, Pages, Date) 12 ?-/ , /& 61 62 31 32 Brief Summary 12 10 SUMMARY: 61 62 61 62 63 64 Zf"Ksrrf<? try? ' Letters continued Book Review y A situation in which such a family with v( a latent, inherited disorder has suffered unexpected toxicity from an exposure, and in which the relationship of the af Patricia Yarvote, M.D. Department Editor fected individuals has initially escaped notice, remains to be reported. This family demonstrates the potential for such a circumstance. Wynder7 has used the term "metabolic epidemiology" in propos ing integrated, interdisciplinary studies to define the extremes of risk for disease. The identification of sub populations within the community at elevated risk for exposure related incubation period (tog) Chloroform, Carbon Tetrachloride, and Other Halomethanes: An Environmental Assessment. Prepared by the Environ mental Studies Board, Commission on Natural Resources of the National Research Council, 294 pp., S8.9S 1978. Report avail able in paperback from the Printing and Publishing Office, National Academy of Science, 2101 Constitution Avenue, Washington, DC 20418. R&S 110794 illness is one aspect of this approach. Tee L Guidotti. M.D. National Institute of Arthritis, Metabolism and Digestive Diseases loel M. lamon National Cancer Institute Bethesda. MD 20014 References 1. Clayton DG: A model for association in bivariate life tables and its application in epidemiological studies of family tendency in chronic disease incidence. Biometrika 65:141, 1978. 2. Calabrese E|: Will elevated levels of lead ex posure precipitate clinical symptoms of por phyria in individuals with the latent condition? Med Hypotheses 4:282, 1978, 3. Magnussen CR. Levine |8. Doherty |M, et al: A red cell enzyme method for the diagnosis of acute intermittent porphyria. Blood 44:857. 1974. 4. Fagius j and Grfjnqvist 6: Function of peripheral nerves and signs of polyneuropathy in solvent-exposed workers at a Swedish steelworks. Acta Neurol Scand 57:305, 1978. 5. Tschudy DP, Valsamis M. and Magnussen CR: Acute intermittent porphyria: Clinical and selected research aspects. Ann Intern Med 83:851. 1975, 6. Anderson DE: Familial susceptibility, in Per sons at High Risk of Cancer, ). F. Fraumeni, |r. (Ed.). New York: Academic Press. 1975, pp 3954. 7. Wynder EL: Metabolic epidemiology. Lancet 1:260. 1978. Fig 1. -- Log normal distribution of In cubation period of 63 liver angiosarcoma cases In vinyl chloride exposed workers. Estimated median (19.3 years) and dispersion factor (1.40) closely resemble those for occupational bladder tumors In the dyestuff industry. cubation periods of the vinyl chloride induced liver angiosarcomas. The in cubation period is defined as the num ber of years from first exposure to diagnosis. A straight line was fitted to the data. The median of the incubation period for occupational angiosarcoma is 19.3 years with a dispersion factor of 1.40. The dispersion factor is de fined as the anti-logarithm of the logarithmic standard deviation. Thus, Sartwell's model1 of the distribution of incubation periods of infectious diseases applies equally to the distribution of incubation periods in occupational liver angiosarcoma. Armenian and Lilienfeld* demon strated earlier that this was also true for the incubation periods of other neoplasms in humans. The median of the incubation period and the disper sion factor for vinyl chloride induced angiosarcoma of the liver strikingly resemble those calculated by these authors for occupational bladder The study assesses the scientific and technical information available on a class of potential multimedia environ mental pollutants, the nonfluorinated halomethanes. This class of com pounds includes the chlorinated, brominated and iodinated methanes. Chloroform and carbon tetrachloride have been considered in greatest de tail because there is more extensive data available on these, and they have been demonstrated to be carcinogenic in high doses in test animals. A quantitative assessment of human and ecosystem exposures and effects is explored in depth as well as sources, concentrations and global mass bal ances. Various control options are out lined such as changes in water dis infection practices which would reduce locally elevated concentrations of chloroform and other halomethanes at waste-water treatment plants. The economic analysis of benefits and costs associated with control practices is reviewed. The participants conclude that fur ther studies are needed to evaluate carcinogenesis, mutagenesis and teratogenesis dose-response effects from low-level environmental ex Log Normal Distribution of the In cubation Period of Liver Angio sarcoma in Vinyl Chloride Poly merization Workers To-the-Editor. -- In the June 1978 issue of the lournal of Occupational Medicine (9:427-429), NIOSH pre sented data on 64 cases of liver angio sarcoma among vinyl chloride polymerization workers. Fig 1 is a log-probit representation of the cumulative percent of the in- tumors in the dyestuff industry. Jean P. Tassignon, M.D. Head. Department of Occupational Health and Toxicology Sovay & Cie. 5A 33 Rue du Prince Albert B-1050 Brussels. Belgium References 1. Sartwell PE: The distribution of incubation periods of infectious disease. Am / Hyg 51:310318, 1950. 2. Armenian HK and Lilienfeld AM: The distribution of incubation periods of neoplastic diseases. Am / Epidemiol 99:92-110. 1074. posure to halomethanes. Better pri mary and secondary calibration stan dards are essential to assure valid and reproducible lab results. More in formation is also needed on the world wide distribution of halomethanes in the environment, including the oceans and glaciers. Although this is a highly technical document of limited interest, it is an important source of information for those involved with this class of com pounds. -- Patricia M. Yarvote, M.D.