Mortality among rubber workers: V. processing workers

Abstract

Cause-specific mortality was evaluated among 2,666 men employed in the processing division of a rubber manufacturing plant. The division was divided into two sections: front processing (compounding, mixing and milling operations) and back processing (extrusion, calendering, cement mixing and rubberized fabrics operations). Mortality rates for all processing workers combined and for men in each section were compared with rates for U.S. White males or for workers employed in other divisions of the same plant. Compared with either referent group, men in the processing division had increased mortality from leukemia, emphysema, and cancers of the stomach, large intestine, and biliary passages and liver. An excess number of deaths from stomach and larger intestine cancer was found predominantly among men in the front processing section (33 observed vs. 17.7 expected deaths, based on rates in nonprocessing workers). Increased mortality from leukemia (14 observed vs. 7.3 expected) and from emphysema (22 observed vs. 11.0 expected) was present among men employed in the back processing section. Examination of mortality from these causes according to age and the year starting work, duration of employment, and years since starting work in the relevant sections of the processing division suggested that observed excesses of stomach cancer, large intestine cancer, leukemia, and emphysema among processing workers are related to occupational exposures. These results are consistent with the findings of studies of other groups of rubber workers.