US EPA

1358090 

Meetings & Symposia 

Paper 

Cancer mortality in an industrial area of Baltimore 

Matanoski, GM; Landau, E; Tonascia, J; Lazar, C; Elliott, EA; Mcenroe, W; King, K 

1980 

English 

https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/nioshtic-2/00123078.html
Exit
 

is also published as 008419 Cancer mortality in an industrial area of Baltimore

The incidence of cancer mortality was studied in persons living in an industrial area near a factory where arsenic (7440382) products are produced. Four index census tracts with at least 50 percent of their area within a 3/4 mile radius of the factory were matched by age distribution, race, sex, and socioeconomic factors with a comparison group of census tracts with little or no industrial exposure, based on 1960 and 1970 census data. Cancers were identified by examining city death certificates for 1958 to 1962 and 1968 to 1974 and verified by examining a sample of hospital records. The concentration of arsenic was determined in soil samples from the study sites. The incidence of lung cancer was significantly higher for men living in the industrialized area than for men in the matched nonindustrialized areas. The difference between the two groups was more pronounced in the later years of the study. Women living in the industrialized area had no excess cancers at any site. Arsenic concentrations in soil were highest in the areas where residents with a high proportion of the lung cancers had lived. Death certificate information generally was validated by hospital records. The excess of lung cancer deaths among environmentally exposed persons did not appear to be due to variations in diagnostic practices, cell types, or other factors. The authors conclude that men living near a chemical factory producing arsenicals have a higher risk of lung cancer than persons without industrial exposure. 

DCN-181623; Heavy metals; Health surveys; Chemical industry workers; Epidemiology; Cancer rates; Carcinogenesis; Mortality rates 

Proceedings of the First NCI/EPA/NIOSH Collaborative Workshop: Progress on Joint Environmental and Occupational Cancer Studies 

Rockville, MD 

May 6-8, 1980