Elsevier

Toxicology

Volume 113, Issues 1–3, 28 October 1996, Pages 157-168
Toxicology

Mortality study of workers employed in 1,3-butadiene production units identified from a large chemical workers cohort

https://doi.org/10.1016/0300-483X(96)03441-5Get rights and content

Abstract

The IARC has given the designations of “sufficient evidence” of carcinogenicity of 1,3-butadiene in experimental animals and “limited evidence” of carcinogenicity in humans. To investigate the carcinogenic effect in humans, a cohort mortality study was conducted among 364 men who were assigned to any of three 1,3-butadiene production units located within several chemical plants in the Kanawha Valley of West Virginia, including 277 men employed in a U.S. Rubber Reserve Plant which operated during World War II. The butadiene production units included in this study were selected from an index developed by the Union Carbide Corporation which listed for each chemical production unit within their South Charleston and Institute plants all products, by-products and reactants. Departments included in the study were those where butadiene was a primary product and neither benzene nor ethylene oxide was present. A total of 185 deaths were observed; the standardized mortality ratio (SMR) for all causes of death was 91, reflecting lower mortality among the study population than the U.S. population. The study found a significantly elevated standardized mortality ratio (SMR) for lymphosarcoma and reticulosarcoma based on four observed cases (SMR = 577; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 157–1480), which persisted in an analysis using county referent rates. An excess of lymphosarcoma and reticulosarcoma among all workers and among workers with routine exposure to 1,3-butadiene was also observed in the only other cohort of 1,3-butadiene production workers previously studied. A statistically non-significant excess of stomach cancer was observed in the overall cohort (five cases; SMR = 243; CI = 79–568) that was most pronounced among workers employed in the Rubber Reserve plant for 2 or more years (five cases; SMR = 657; CI = 213–1530). We conclude that the results of this study add to the weight of evidence suggesting that butadiene is carcinogenic in humans.

References (30)

  • R.A. Woutersen et al.

    Inhalation toxicity of acetaldehyde in rats. III. Carcinogenicity study

    Toxicology

    (1986)
  • R. Day et al.

    A comparative ecologic study of selected cancers in Kanawha Valley, West Virginia

    Am. J. Ind. Med.

    (1992)
  • B.J. Divine

    An update on mortality among workers at a 1,3-butadiene facility — preliminary results

    Environ. Health Perspect.

    (1990)
  • B.J. Divine et al.

    Cancer mortality among workers at a butadiene production facility

  • T.D. Downs et al.

    Mortality among workers at a butadiene facility

    Am. J. Ind. Med.

    (1987)
  • J.M. Fajen et al.

    Industrial exposure to 1,3-butadiene in monomer, polymer and end-user industries

  • V.J. Feron et al.

    Respiratory tract tumors in hamsters exposed to acetaldehyde vapour alone or simultaneously to benzo[a]pyrene or dimethylnitrosamine

    Eur. J. Cancer Clin. Oncol.

    (1982)
  • IARC
  • IARC
  • IARC
  • IARC
  • J.R.M. Innes et al.

    Bioassay of pesticides and industrial chemicals for tumorigenicity in mice: a preliminary note

    J. Natl. Cancer Inst.

    (1969)
  • J.E. Huff et al.

    Multiple organ carcinogenicity of 1,3-butadiene in B6C3F1 mice after 60 weeks of inhalation exposure

    Science

    (1985)
  • A.M. Jebens

    CEH Marketing report: butadiene

  • R.A. Lemen et al.

    Environmental epidemiologic investigations in the styrene-butadiene rubber production industry

    Environ. Health Perspect.

    (1990)
  • Cited by (0)

    Reprinted from Environmental Health Perspectives; Journal of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences; Volume 103, Number 6, June 1995.

    View full text