Soft-tissue sarcoma: case-control study.
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Female↗
Biomedical subjects
G G Bond
Publications and source records attributed to G G Bond.
An update of mortality among chemical workers exposed to benzene.
Mortality was updated to the end of 1982 for 594 employees exposed to benzene who had been studied previously and for an additional 362 exposed workers not studied previously. Cause specific mortality comparisons were made using United States white male, age, and calendar year adjusted rates. Total mortality was observed to have been significantly below expectation, and this was particularly evident for deaths from accidental causes. Mortality from skin cancer was significantly raised, although there were no unusual or common characteristics among the affected individuals which would suggest a link with exposure to benzene. A non-significant excess of total deaths from leukaemia was noted based on four observed cases; however, all four were myelogenous leukaemias and this represented a significant excess in that subcategory. These and other deaths of possible interest are reviewed in detail. Analyses by work area, duration of exposure, and cumulative dose index did not show patterns suggestive of a causal association between exposure to benzene and any particular cause of death.
Adult↗
Acrylamide cohort mortality study.
The mortality experience of 371 employees assigned to acrylamide monomer and polymerisation operations was examined with particular emphasis on cancers at sites identified from animal studies such as the central nervous system, thyroid gland, other endocrine glands, and mesotheliomas. A total of 29 deaths was observed up until 1982 (38.0 expected). No statistically significant excesses were noted in the total cohort and no deaths were found for the hypothesised sites of cancer. The observed deaths in the total cohort for the all cancers category were somewhat in excess (11 v 7.9); however, this was due entirely to excess cancers of the digestive tract and respiratory system in the subgroup with previous exposure to organic dyes. Among those employees not exposed to organic dyes, four deaths were due to malignancies versus 6.5 expected. This study does not support a cause effect relation between exposure to acrylamide at this work site and overall mortality, total malignant neoplasms, or any specific cancers.
Acrylamides↗
Mortality among a sample of chemical company employees.
A general mortality survey was done on a 5% random-start systematic sample (N = 1,666) of present and former white male employees of a Texas chemical plant. The purpose was to determine whether there were any unusual patterns of cause-specific mortality that would require further research with case-control studies. Mortality risks were examined by duration of employment and year of hire as surrogates for more specific exposure data. Among all employees in the sample, there was significant excess mortality due to All Cancer, Ill-Defined Conditions, and All External Causes of Death, and a significant deficit from All Circulatory Diseases. The excess mortality from All Cancer was primarily attributable to excess cancers of the kidney, lung, and pancreas. The excesses for lung and kidney cancer were statistically significant. Those employed for 1 year or more experienced significantly lower mortality from All Causes than those employed for less than 1 year.
Adult↗
A case-control study of renal cancer mortality at a Texas chemical plant.
An in-plant case-control study of 26 renal cancer deaths was conducted to determine whether an occupational exposure may be related to an apparent increase in mortality from this disease observed among a sample of employees at a multiple process chemical production facility. None was found that explained the excess. Elevated odds ratios were identified for employment in the cell maintenance area of chlorine production and with those presumptive exposures considered to occur in this job, asbestos and caustic, but not chlorine. While an association between renal cancer and asbestos has been previously reported, an association with caustic, per se, is not consistent with prior observations made by others. Diminished risk estimates were observed for employment in magnesium production and for exposures in this process to sulfur dioxide and heat. Both the increased and decreased risks, while statistically significant, are based on small numbers of exposed subjects and may be spurious owing to the problem of multiple comparisons.
Adult↗
Mortality among a large cohort of chemical manufacturing employees.
Cause-specific mortality was surveyed among 19,608 male employees with 1 or more years of service between 1940 and 1980 at the Texas Operations of Dow Chemical U.S.A. Vital status was ascertained through 1980 for 97.3% of the cohort members, and death certificates were obtained for 96.4% of the 3,444 decedents. Mortality risks were found to vary, depending upon which of 3 population groups (United States, Texas, and local counties) was used for comparison, although significantly fewer than expected deaths from all causes was a common finding due to significant deficits in diabetes, diseases of the circulatory system, and cirrhosis of the liver. Significantly more deaths were from ill-defined conditions and cancers of unspecified sites. Lung cancer was significantly elevated in comparisons with the incidences in the United States and Texas, but not in comparison with those in the local counties. The influence of age at hire, period of hire, duration of employment, interval since entry into cohort, employment status, and two measures of social class--educational level and job category--were explored with the use of the Mantel-Haenszel method as adapted for a cohort study. Findings from these analyses are discussed in relation to the observations of other investigators and in the context of the possible impact of these findings on future studies of this work force.
Chemical Industry↗
Mortality among employees engaged in chemical manufacturing and related activities.
A retrospective cohort mortality study was conducted among men employed for one or more years, between 1940 and 1969, at an operating division of a large chemical company. Vital status follow-up for the cohort of 1,919 men was determined through 1979 and identified 390 deaths. Overall mortality in the study group and in each of eight employment subgroups was less than that of the corresponding United States white male population. Additionally, standardized mortality ratios were not significantly elevated for any of the examined cause-of-death categories. Cause-specific mortality comparisons were also made among the employment subgroups and by duration of employment in the company division using an internal analysis method. There were no relationships observed for employment duration. Several significant differences (p less than 0.05) by employment subgroup were noted; however, neither the decreases nor increases presently could be ascribed to identifiable environmental factors.
Actuarial Analysis↗
A comparison of neutralizing and antigen-binding assays for human antibodies against toxic-shock-syndrome toxin 1.
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Antitoxins↗
Association of high levels of serum antibody to staphylococcal toxic shock antigen with nasal carriage of toxic shock antigen-producing strains of Staphylococcus aureus.
Forty-four asymptomatic male subjects were examined for their nasal carriage of strains of Staphylococcus aureus capable of producing staphylococcal toxic shock antigen (TSA), an exotoxin implicated in the pathogenesis of toxic shock syndrome. In addition, the levels of antibody to TSA in sera from these subjects were determined by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. S. aureus was isolated from the anterior nares of 23 subjects. Of those 23 isolates of S. aureus, 9 were found to produce TSA. All individuals carrying strains of S. aureus capable of producing TSA had high to moderate levels of antibody to TSA. In contrast, those individuals carrying strains not producing TSA had levels of antibody to TSA ranging from high to nondetectable. A second examination of nasal samples from 42 of these subjects revealed that 86% of those carrying S. aureus initially still carried S. aureus after a period of 3 months; all subjects found to carry TSA-producing strains initially and that were examined a second time yielded TSA-producing strains once again.
Adult↗
Pattern makers mortality study.
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Colonic Neoplasms↗
Medical and morbidity surveillance findings among employees potentially exposed to TCDD.
Available medical and morbidity surveillance findings from 1976 to 1978 for two employee cohorts potentially exposed to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) were compared with those of matched unexposed employees. The medical surveillance findings were derived from a screening programme offered to all active employees and included an analysis of various medical history questions and blood chemistry results. Group medical insurance claims served as the source of morbidity surveillance data and the period prevalence of selected diseases was analysed. Few significant differences between the exposed and unexposed were detected. Among the cohort of employees potentially exposed during the manufacture of 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5,-T), a significantly greater frequency of x-ray proved ulcer was reported and significantly more members of this group had diseases of the digestive system diagnosed. Such findings were absent in the more highly TCDD-exposed cohort engaged in 2,4,5-trichlorophenol production, making it unlikely that dioxin was a cause.
2,4,5-Trichlorophenoxyacetic Acid↗
A case-control study of brain tumor mortality at a Texas Chemical plant.
A plant-based case-control study was undertaken to investigate a possible excess of brain tumor mortality identified at a Texas Chemical plant from a sample-based cohort study. Work histories and presumptive exposures of 28 former employees who had died of primary intracranial neoplasms were contrasted with those of two matched comparison groups in an effort to identify a possible etiologic agent. Because the sample-based cohort study suggested they might be at increased risk, those employees hired prior to 1945, those employed from one to four years and those employed for 20 or more years were studied separately. No statistically significant associations were found, although an elevated risk was suggested for employment in the machine shop prior to 1945 based on three exposed cases.
Adult↗
An investigation of brain tumors among chemical plant employees using a sample-based cohort method.
Using a modification of the traditional cohort mortality methodology, risk estimates of death due to brain tumors were calculated for production and nonproduction employees of Dow Chemical U.S.A., Texas Division. A total of 25 malignant, benign and unspecified brain tumors were identified using a geographically limited record-linkage process. Expected deaths were extrapolated from 1,666 white males in a 5% sample of the 1940 through 1977 total workforce. The resulting sample-based standardized mortality ratios (which were not evaluated for statistical significance) suggest, at most, only a slight increased risk of mortality from brain tumors for the overall time period. There was, however, a probable elevated risk associated with first employment prior to 1945. To date, diminished risk has been noted for those hired during subsequent years.
Adult↗
Case-control study of brain tumor deaths among employees at a chemical manufacturing plant.
Recent studies have reported an increased risk of death from primary intracranial neoplasms among employees in the petrochemical industry. One of them, a NIOSH/OSHA county-based case-control study, suggested a twofold risk for having ever been employed at the Texas Division of Dow Chemical U.S.A. Using the case-control approach, we compared 24 brain tumor cases among employees at this large, diverse chemical plant in Texas with two sets of age-, race-, and sex-matched controls to determine if a risk could be associated with job assignment in a particular process area, with presumptive exposure to a major process chemical, or with a number of other occupationally related and unrelated variables. Results implicated no specific area or chemical. The only significant findings were an elevated odds for being hired prior to 1950 and a negative correlation with employment greater than 10 years. Further, preliminary calculations of expected deaths from primary intracranial neoplasms among the employee cohort suggested there was no excessive risk.
Adult↗
Querying death certificate diagnoses.
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Death Certificates↗
New method for determining eye anesthesia in an animal model.
Some chemical which are injurious to the eye may also cause anesthesia. If the eye were unknowingly anesthetized, exposure to an irritant could go undected and cause injury. Techniques for determining whether the eye was anesthetized have been generally unreliable. Usually the technique consists of challenging the cornea with a probe and testing for a blink response. In a new method described herein, an indwelling subpalpebral lavage apparatus was surgically implanted in the dog. Through this apparatus, a test material was instilled into the eye without the animal's anticipation. Responses caused by the materials were monitored by electroencephalography. The normal response to an irritting material was increased frequency and decreased amplitude of the electroencephalogram tracing or a deflection of thepolygraph needle (blink response), or both. The method was evaluated with known eye anesthetic agents and appeared to be a useful way of detecting eye anesthesia.
Anesthesia, Local↗
A smoking cessation incentive program for chemical employees: design and evaluation.
Worksite smoking cessation intervention programs have become increasingly popular, although program evaluations are often unavailable. In 1984, the Texas Operations of Dow Chemical USA offered a Smoking Cessation Incentive Program (SCIP) to its employees. SCIP was a highly publicized, upbeat program that had the active support of management and union. Altogether, 7,516 employees (95.4% of all employees) were surveyed about their smoking habits; 28.3% identified themselves as smokers. A total of 1,113 employees voluntarily enrolled in SCIP from March 1, 1984, through March 1, 1985. Smoking cessation methods included a buddy program, nicotine-containing chewing gum, American Lung Association self-help material and group clinics, and incentive prizes. SCIP registrants, compared to employees identified as smokers in a pre-program survey who did not participate in SCIP, were significantly (P less than .01) more often females, whites, administrators, professionals, heavier smokers, and smokers who had tried to quit at least two times prior to SCIP. There were 326 (29.3%) SCIP participants who quit smoking for at least one month during SCIP. A total of 265 (23.8%) succeeded at quitting for at least six months and remained ex-smokers at the end of the program. Logistic regression analysis showed administrators had significantly higher six-month or more rates of quitting than did professionals, craftsmen, operators or clerical workers.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Chemical Industry↗