Abstract

Greenberg, M. (1972).Brit. J. industr. Med.,29, 15-20. A proportional mortality study of a group of newspaper workers. In investigating an anecdotal report of a high incidence of bladder cancer at a London newspaper printing factory, death certificates for 670 workers relating to the years 1954-66 were studied. While an increased incidence of carcinoma of the urinary organs could not be demonstrated, the total of all malignancies was greater than predicted and carcinoma of the bronchus accounted for much of the excess. Only death by suicide occurred to excess among causes of death other than malignancy.

The smoking habits of subjects are not known but if tobacco habit contributed to bronchial carcinoma it had no observable effect on the incidence of chronic bronchitis and ischaemic heart disease in early middle age.

It is concluded that a prospective study would be required if occupation is to be implicated as a hazard.