LUNG-CANCER MORTALITY AMONG FEMALE MINE WORKERS EXPOSED TO SILICA

A mortality cohort study (1951-1988) was conducted on 526 female worke rs in two lead and zinc mines in southwestern Sardinia (Italy), 310 of whom had been exposed to silica. Women exposed to silica showed a non significant 38% increase in the standardized mortality ratio (SMR) for nonmalignant respiratory diseases, which was highest and statisticall y significant among women at the mine with the highest exposure to sil ica (SMR = 217; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 104, 400, based on 10 o bserved and 4.6 expected deaths). Five deaths from lung cancer also oc curred among those exposed to silica (SMR = 283, 95% CI = 91, 660), bu t the excess was not related to the level or duration of exposure. No information was available concerning lifestyle risk factors in this co hort. However smoking was quite rare among Sardinian women at the time cohort members worked, so it may be presumed that very few of them we re smokers.