Document j0eNROENw8KDBq3k5Lg7Qx1N

MONSANTO STUDY Summery Because of recent interest in the careinsgcnicity of cryleni;r; lc, a standardized mortality analysis was conducted on workers exposed to this compound, Three-hundred fifty-two males exposed to acrylo nitrile for six months or longer prior to 1963 at two Monsanto pia-ts were selected for study. One-hundred percent of the study cohort was traced for deaths occurring through 197?.' Observed deaths did not differ significantly from expected deaths for any of the twenty-one cause-of-death categories examined. For all causes of death, IS deaths were observed and 18.11 were expected.' The three eaneer deaths includ ed one death each from cancers of the lung and prostate and one death from lymphcaa. There wore no deaths observed from colon eaneer. Result* of this analysis indicate no apparent excess in total mortality of deaths due to malignant neoplasms. Ho. trends were observed to corrobo rate previous reports of excess cancer mortality in acrylonitrile- exposed workers. However, the small sirs of the study population and the small number of deathsobserved necessitate further follow-up of the study cohort and comparisons with other acryl.onitrile-exposed worker populations. . ` . -4 * , Introduction ., . * In June 1977, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a general request for information relating to the health effects of 'occupational exposure to acrylonitrile. This information would be reviewed to determine if the then current exposure level of 10 ppm (11 mg/to*) for acrylonitrile was sufficiently protective of exposed workers. This reevaluatioa of the hazards of acrylonitrile exposure was precipi tated by the preliminary'findings of a toxicology study conducted for the Manufacturing Chemists Association and an epidemiology study e nducted by duFont Company. I UCC 085658