MORTALITY STUDIES OF MACHINING FLUID EXPOSURE IN THE AUTOMOBILE-INDUSTRY .5. A CASE-CONTROL STUDY OF PANCREATIC-CANCER

Results are presented from a case-control study of 97 cases of pancrea tic cancer nested in a cohort of workers from three automobile manufac turing plants. Risk was examined for lifetime exposure to straight, so luble, and synthetic metalworking fluids, as used in specific machinin g or grinding operations, as well as for constituents of the fluids. p ancreatic cancer was associated with exposure to synthetic fluids in g rinding operations, with an odds ratio of 3.0 (95% CI: 1.2-75) among t hose with more than 1.4 mg/m(3)-years of exposure. We were unable to e xamine synthetic exposure in the absence of grinding because there was virtually no exposure to synthetics in machining operations in this s tudy population. Although a disproportionately high percent of the cas es were black, no black workers had any exposure to synthetic fluids, and no other measured exposure was found to be related to risk. Thus, the previously documented excess risk of pancreatic cancer among black s in this cohort remains unexplained. (C) 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.