Long-term health experience of jet engine manufacturing workers: VIII. glioblastoma incidence in relation to workplace experiences with parts and processes

Abstract

Objective: To determine whether glioblastoma (GB) incidence rates among jet engine manufacturing workers were associated with workplace experiences with specific parts produced and processes performed.

Methods: Subjects were 210,784 workers employed between 1952 and 2001. We conducted nested case-control and cohort incidence studies with focus on 277 GB cases. We estimated time experienced with 16 part families, 4 process categories, and 32 concurrent part-process combinations with 20 or more GB cases.

Results: In both the cohort and case-control studies, none of the part families, process categories, or both considered was associated with increased GB risk.

Conclusions: If not due to chance alone, the not statistically significantly elevated GB rates in the North Haven plant may reflect external occupational factors or nonoccupational factors unmeasured in the current evaluation.