O8.1 MORTALITY OF EMPLOYEES OF AN AMMONIUM PERFLUOROOCTANOATE PRODUCTION FACILITY

B. H. Alexander¹, G. W. Olsen², J. M. Burris², J. H. Mandel², J. S. Mandel³.¹Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA; ²3M Company, St. Paul, MN, USA; ³Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

Introduction: Ammonium perfluorooctanoate (APFO), a synthetic surfactant used in industrial applications, dissociates in biological media to perfluorooctanoate (PFOA). APFO is a peroxisome proliferator and is associated with lipid metabolism interference and frequency of liver, Leydig cell, and pancreatic acinar tumours in laboratory animals. We present the results of a cohort mortality study of APFO production workers.

Methods: A retrospective cohort mortality study followed 3992 employees of an APFO production site. Cohort members were assigned to one of three exposure groups based on their work history: no, probable, and definite exposure to PFOA. Standardised mortality ratios (SMR) with 95% confidence intervals were calculated for all cause and cause specific mortality for the entire study cohort and the three exposure groups.

Results: A total of 607 deaths from all causes (SMR 0.85; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.78 to 0.92) and 172 deaths from cancer (SMR 0.84; 95% CI 0.72 to 0.98) were observed in the cohort. No association was observed between PFOA exposure and all cause mortality or all cancer mortality. Workers with definite or probable PFOA exposure did not have elevated rates of mortality from liver cancer (SMR 0.59; 95% CI 0.01 to 3.27) or pancreatic cancer (SMR 1.44; 95% CI 0.53 to 3.13). A modest increased risk of death from cerebrovascular disease was observed in the subcohort with definite PFOA exposure (five observed, 1.94 expected; SMR 2.58; 95% CI 0.84 to 6.03).

Conclusion: In this study occupational exposure …