MORTALITY OF UNITED-KINGDOM ACRYLONITRILE WORKERS - AN EXTENDED AND UPDATED STUDY

The mortality experience of 2763 men employed between 1950 and 1978 fo r at least 1 year at 6 factories involved in the polymerization of acr ylonitrile and the spinning of acrylic fiber was followed to the end o f 1991. Overall, cancer deaths did not exceed the expected numbers. Th ere were, however, excess cancer deaths among the workers in the jobs more highly exposed to acrylonitrile. The excesses did not reach conve ntional levels of statistical significance apart from an excess of lun g cancer among workers under 45 years of age. Detailed analyses provid ed no consistent support for a causal association between acrylonitril e exposure and carcinogenesis. The Limitations of the study, including a lack of information on smoking habits and very limited estimates of acrylonitrile exposure, need to be borne in mind.