MORTALITY AMONG WORKERS AT A PESTICIDE MANUFACTURING PLANT

This study evaluated the mortality experience of 2384 workers at a pla nt in Colorado that produced aldrin, azodrin, vapona, and other pestic ides. Subjects were followed up for a median of 29 years, from 1952 th rough 1990. Comparisons of the cohort's mortality rates with those of the Colorado population indicated that observed and expected numbers o f deaths were similar for all causes (465 observed/473 expected) and f or all cancers (113/106). Standardized mortality ratios were elevated for hepatobiliary cancer (5/2.0; standardized mortality ratio, 249, 95 % confidence interval, 81 to 581), due to an excess of biliary duct/ga ll bladder cancer, and for pneumonia (20/13; standardized mortality ra tio, 150, 95% confidence interval, 92 to 232). These increases were li mited to white men in hourly jobs but were not limited to any particul ar production unit and did not display duration-response trends. It is unlikely that these excesses are due to occupational exposures at the plant.