HEALTH SURVEY OF FORMER WORKERS IN A NORWEGIAN COKE PLANT - PART 2 - CANCER INCIDENCE AND CAUSE-SPECIFIC MORTALITY

Objectives-A Norwegian coke plant that operated from 1964 to 1988 was investigated to ascertain whether the male workers in this plant had i ncreased morbidities of cancer or increased mortality from specific ca uses, particularly associated with specific exposures at the coke plan t. Methods-Personal data on all the employees of the plant were obtain ed from the plant's archives. With additional data from the Norwegian Bureau of Statistics we identified 888 male former workers at the plan t. Causes of death were obtained from the Norwegian Bureau of Statisti cs, and cancer diagnoses from the Norwegian Cancer Registry. The resul ts were compared with national averages adjusted for age. Specific exp osures were estimated with records of actual measurements done at the plant and interviews with former workers at the plant. Results-A signi ficant excess of stomach cancer (standardised incidence ratio (SIR) 2. 22, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.01 to 4.21) was found. Mortalit y from ischaemic heart disease and sudden death was positively associa ted with work in areas which entailed peak exposures to CO. When consi dering work in such areas the past 3 years before death, the associati on was significant (p=0.01). The last result is based on only two deat hs. Conclusions-Considering the short follow up time and the small siz e of the cohort the results should be interpreted with a certain cauti on. The positive results would justify a re-examination of the cohort at a later date.