Vermont granite workers' mortality study

Abstract

A cohort mortality study was carried out in Vermont granite workers who had been employed between the years 1950 and 1982. The cohort included men who had been exposed to high levels of granite dust prior to 1938-1940 (average cutters to 40 million parts/cubic foot), and those employed at dust levels after 1940, which on average were less than 10 million parts/cubic foot. Deaths were coded by a qualified nosologist and standardized mortality ratios were calculated. The results confirm previous studies that show that death rates from silicosis and tuberculosis, the major health threats in the years before 1940, were essentially eliminated after dust controls. However, we found excessive mortality rates from lung cancer in stone shed workers who had been employed prior to 1930, and hence had been exposed to high levels of granite dust. When information was available, 100% of those dying from lung cancer had been smokers.