Noncancer mortality in the meat industry: white males

Abstract

This paper reports on the noncancer mortality among 13,844 white males of a meatcutters' union in Baltimore, who were studied to examine whether there is increased risk of death from particular diseases associated with the meat industry. The group was divided into four main job-categories of the industry, and a control group. Cause-specific standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) were calculated for each subgroup, using the US white male rates for comparison. Abattoir workers had an SMR of 3.73 (P less than .05) for diseases of blood and blood-forming organs; workers in meat-packing plants had an SMR of 2.08 (P less than .01) for liver cirrhosis; and workers in the meat department of grocery stores/supermarkets had an SMR of 2.02 (P less than .01) for diabetes. The role of occupational exposures in the etiology of these diseases was examined.