A cohort mortality study of cellulose triacetate-fiber workers exposed to methylene chloride

J Occup Environ Med. 1996 Jul;38(7):693-7. doi: 10.1097/00043764-199607000-00012.

Abstract

The purpose of this study of 3211 cellulose-fiber production workers was to evaluate earlier findings of excess biliary tract and liver cancer in a similarly exposed cohort reported in 1990. Mortality from biliary tract and liver cancer was not increased in this study population, and there was no excess mortality from pancreatic cancer. Mortality was not elevated for cancers of the lung or liver, sites at which tumors were induced in experimental animals exposed to methylene chloride. Men with 20 or more years of employment exhibited increased mortality from prostate cancer, whereas women who also had 20 or more years of employment experienced higher-than-expected mortality from cervical cancer. Although these apparent increases in mortality are difficult to interpret biologically and are not consistent with previous studies, they require further investigation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Cause of Death
  • Cellulose / analogs & derivatives*
  • Cellulose / chemical synthesis
  • Cohort Studies
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Maryland
  • Methylene Chloride / adverse effects*
  • Neoplasms / chemically induced
  • Neoplasms / mortality*
  • Occupational Diseases / chemically induced
  • Occupational Diseases / mortality*
  • Prostatic Neoplasms / chemically induced
  • Prostatic Neoplasms / mortality
  • Survival Rate
  • Textile Industry*
  • Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / chemically induced
  • Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / mortality

Substances

  • Methylene Chloride
  • Cellulose
  • cellulose triacetate