Mortality due to asbestos-related causes among railway carriage construction and repair workers

The objective of this study was to further clarify the cancer risk associat ed with asbestos exposure in railway carriage construction and repair. The cohort included 734 subjects employed between 1 January 1945 and 31 Decembe r 1969. Vital status was ascertained at 31 December 1997. Mortality was inv estigated in the time span 1970-97. Forty-two subjects (6%) were lost to fo llow-up and eight causes of death (4%) could not be ascertained, The overal l mortality was not above the expected value. Among neoplastic diseases, ex cesses were observed for lung [standardized mortality ratio (SMR) = 124; 90 % confidence interval (CI) = 87-172; 26 obs), pleura (SMR = 1,327; CI = 523 -2,790; 5 obs), larynx (SMR = 240; CI = 95-505; 5 obs), liver (SMR = 241; C I = 126-420; 9 obs), pancreas (SMR = 224; CI = 98-443; 6 obs) and multiple myeloma (SMR = 429; CI = 117-1,109; 3 obs). The observed excess of lung and pleural neoplasms can be causally related to asbestos exposure in the manu facture of railway carriages. A causal role of asbestos exposure in the rai sed SMRs from laryngeal and pancreatic neoplasms and multiple myeloma canno t be conclusively proven.