HRs for selected causes of death for male workers from the total cohort by tertiles of (lagged) TCDD plasma levels; low, medium and high compared with workers with background TCDD levels
| Causes of death (ICD-10) | TCDD level (ppt) | Empirical model* | A priori model† | ||
| n | HR (95% CI) | n | HR (95% CI) | ||
| All non-cancer causes (A00–B99, D50–Y89) | |||||
| Background (reference) | ≤0.4 | 139 | Ref (–) | 122 | Ref (–) |
| Low | 0.4–1.9 | 68 | 1.02 (0.76 to 1.36) | 94 | 1.05 (0.80 to 1.38) |
| Medium | 1.9–9.9 | 78 | 1.34 (1.01 to 1.77) | 89 | 1.39 (1.06 to 1.82) |
| High | ≥9.9 | 64 | 1.52 (1.12 to 2.05) | 44 | 1.87 (1.33 to 2.64) |
| All cancers (C00–D48) | |||||
| Background (reference) | ≤0.4 | 101 | Ref (–) | 80 | Ref (–) |
| Low | 0.4–4.1 | 30 | 0.67 (0.44 to 1.01) | 56 | 0.79 (0.55 to 1.12) |
| Medium | 4.1–20.1 | 30 | 0.76 (0.50 to 1.15) | 33 | 1.07 (0.70 to 1.61) |
| High | ≥20.1 | 31 | 1.32 (0.88 to 1.96) | 23 | 1.80 (1.16 to 2.82) |
| Stomach cancer (C16) | |||||
| Background (reference) | ≤0.4 | 8 | Ref (–) | 8 | Ref (–) |
| Low | 0.4–4.1 | 2 | 0.50 (0.11 to 2.33) | 1 | 0.13 (0.02 to 1.03) |
| Medium | 4.1–20.1 | 1 | 0.34 (0.04 to 2.66) | 2 | 0.54 (0.11 to 2.58) |
| High | ≥20.1 | 3 | 1.33 (0.32 to 5.51) | 3 | 2.46 (0.66 to 9.16) |
| Trachea, bronchus and lung cancer (C33–C34) | |||||
| Background (reference) | ≤0.4 | 27 | Ref (–) | 24 | Ref (–) |
| Low | 0.4–4.1 | 7 | 0.53 (0.24 to 1.17) | 11 | 0.52 (0.26 to 1.05) |
| Medium | 4.1–20.1 | 10 | 0.89 (0.42 to 1.85) | 12 | 1.15 (0.57 to 2.34) |
| High | ≥20.1 | 8 | 1.07 (0.48 to 2.37) | 5 | 1.20 (0.46 to 3.13) |
| Urinary cancers (C64–C68) | |||||
| Background (reference) | ≤0.4 | 9 | Ref (–) | 4 | Ref (–) |
| Low | 0.4–4.1 | 4 | 0.76 (0.23 to 2.57) | 10 | 2.49 (0.75 to 8.29) |
| Medium | 4.1 to 20.1 | 5 | 1.32 (0.46 to 3.81) | 7 | 3.95 (1.09 to 14.34) |
| High | ≥20.1 | 5 | 2.04 (0.70 to 5.95) | 2 | 3.14 (0.58 to 17.01) |
| Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (C82–C83, C85) | |||||
| Background (reference) | ≤0.4 | 2 | Ref (–) | 1 | Ref (–) |
| Low | 0.4–4.1 | 1 | 2.99 (0.21 to 43.29) | 3 | 3.77 (0.42 to 34.27) |
| Medium | 4.1–20.1 | 2 | 5.28 (0.48 to 58.06) | 2 | 7.78 (0.68 to 89.27) |
| High | ≥20.1 | 2 | 10.28 (1.05 to 100.4) | 1 | 8.09 (0.44 to 149.07) |
| Benign and unspecified cancers (D00–D48) | |||||
| Background (reference) | ≤0.4 | 4 | Ref (–) | 4 | Ref (–) |
| Low | 0.4–4.1 | 0 | – | 2 | 0.61 (0.11 to 3.40) |
| Medium | 4.1–20.1 | 2 | 1.26 (0.23 to 6.92) | 0 | – |
| High | ≥20.1 | 1 | 0.89 (0.11 to 7.09) | 1 | 1.37 (0.15 to 12.06) |
| Ischaemic heart disease (I20–I25) | |||||
| Background (reference) | ≤0.4 | 35 | Ref (–) | 33 | Ref (–) |
| Low | 0.4–1.9 | 16 | 1.17 (0.65 to 2.09) | 21 | 1.02 (0.60 to 1.76) |
| Medium | 1.9–9.9 | 14 | 1.00 (0.54 to 1.85) | 20 | 1.25 (0.72 to 2.18) |
| High | ≥9.9 | 28 | 2.60 (1.57 to 4.31) | 19 | 2.78 (1.57 to 4.91) |
| Accidents, poisoning and violence (S00–Y09) | |||||
| Background (reference) | ≤0.4 | 11 | Ref (–) | 11 | Ref (–) |
| Low | 0.4–1.9 | 2 | 0.70 (0.15 to 3.30) | 6 | 0.93 (0.35 to 2.51) |
| Medium | 1.9–9.9 | 7 | 1.64 (0.63 to 4.28) | 6 | 1.54 (0.59 to 4.02) |
| High | ≥9.9 | 10 | 2.80 (1.21 to 6.47) | 7 | 2.72 (1.02 to 7.23) |