CANCER MORTALITY OF ART GLASS WORKERS IN TUSCANY, ITALY

Objectives This study considers the cause-specific mortality from canc er among art glass workers employed in 17 industrial facilities in Tus cany,Italy. Methods A cohort of 3390 workers, 3180 men and 210 women, employed at least 1 year, was taken from company payrolls. It was foll owed between the year each factory started operation, mostly the mid-1 950s, and 31 December 1993. The cause-specific expected mortality from cancer was computed for men relative to Tuscany rates, specified for gender, 5-year age groups, and calendar year. Separate analyses were c arried out for the job title of maker and former and for batch mixers. Results For 3180 men, the observed mortality was above the expected f or larynx [standardized mortality ratio (SMR) 166, 90% confidence inte rval (90% CI) 90-282], lung (SMR 123, 90% CI 100-151), stomach (SMR 10 5, 90% CI 76-142), and brain (SMR 150, 90% CI 71-282) cancer. Increase s for these causes were also found for the makers and formers. Mortali ty from larynx and lung cancer increased with latency, and significant ly increased SMR values were observed for greater than or equal to 21 years since first exposure. The increasing pattern was also present af ter adjustment for smoking. Conclusions The results showed consistentl y increased mortality from larynx and lung cancer in the overall cohor t and among makers and formers. Stomach and brain cancer was also incr eased in the overall cohort and among the makers and formers.