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3101578 
Technical Report 
Relation Of Cigarette Smoking To Risk Of Death Of Asbestos-Associated Disease Among Insulation Workers In The United States 
Hammond, EC; Selikoff, IJ 
1973 
NIOSH/00149797 
IARC Scientific Publication No 
8 
312-317 
Evidence on the relationship between cigarette smoking and lung cancer among asbestos insulation workers is reviewed. A study of New York insulation workers shows 24 lung cancer deaths among 370 workers (2.98 expected), none of which occurred among nonsmokers. Results from an additional 56 months of this study show 41 deaths from lung cancer among the 283 smokers compared to one lung cancer death among 87 nonsmokers. A second study of all United States and Canadian insulation workers is cited which shows 213 lung cancer deaths (44.4 expected). Among smoking workers in this group, there were 596 deaths, 134 of which were due to lung cancer. Among the 2,066 non cigarette smokers, 73 deaths are reported, two from lung cancer and one of these was in a pipe and cigar smoker. Five deaths from pleural mesothelioma are listed in the New York study, all among cigarette smokers, and 26 such deaths in the larger cohort: 17 had a history of regular cigarette smoking, 1 was a pipe smoker, 1 never smoked regularly, and 7 were unknown as to smoking habits. Examination of deaths from peritoneal mesothelioma show 51 such deaths, 9 among nonsmokers, and 29 among cigarette smokers. Asbestosis death rates are reported to be 3 times as high for men with a history of cigarette smoking as for those without. Figures concerning gastrointestinal cancers among these insulation workers also suggest a correlation with smoking although numbers of such cancers in nonsmokers are too small to make a definitive statement. The authors conclude that employment in asbestos insulation work greatly increases the lung cancer risk of cigarette smokers, and may increase their risk of asbestosis. It is uncertain whether such employment increases the risk of lung cancer among nonsmokers. 
DCN-136372; Cigarette smoking; Work environment; Diseases; Lung fibrosis; Lung cancer; Air contamination; Workers; Physiological function; Asbestos workers; Asbestos fibers; Physiological disorders 
OPPT REs
• OPPT_Asbestos, Part I: Chrysotile_F. Human Health
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