MORTALITY OF WORKERS EMPLOYED IN SHOE MANUFACTURING

A retrospective cohort mortality study was conducted among 7814 white shoe manufacturing workers followed from 1940 through 1982. The worker s were potentially exposed to solvents (including toluene) and solvent -based adhesives. Benzene may have been present as an impurity of tolu ene. Mortality due to leukemia and aleukemia was not statistically sig nificantly elevated. Statistically significant excess mortality due to cancer of the trachea, bronchus and lung was observed in the total co hort [standardized mortality ratio (SMR) 147, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 120-1801 and showed a statistically significant trend in stan dardized relative risk with increasing potential latency, but not with increasing duration of employment. Chronic nonmalignant respiratory d isease was significantly elevated among the men (SMR 158, 95% CI 114-2 17) but was less than expected among the women (SMR 79), a finding sug gesting a possible contribution of smoking to the mortality from respi ratory cancer. However, adjustment for the potential effects of smokin g did not completely eliminate the increased risk for lung cancer.