Absence of adverse mortality effects in workers exposed to methylene chloride: an update.

Mortality findings in a 1964 to 1970 cohort of 1013 hourly-wage men exposed to methylene chloride were substantially unchanged after 4 additional years of observation through 1988. Mean exposure was 26 ppm (8-hour time-weighted average) for 23 years; median follow-up from first exposure was 33 years. A comparison with death rates in both general population and industrial referents showed nonsignificant deficits in observed-expected ratios for such hypothesized causes as lung and liver cancer and ischemic heart disease.

Methylene chloride mortality study: dose-response characterization and animal model comparison.

To assess the potential chronic health effects of methylene chloride, the mortality experience of a maturing 1964 to 1970 cohort of 1,013 hourly men was evaluated through 1984. On average, employees were exposed at a rate of 26 ppm (eight-hour time-weighted average) for 22 years; median latency was 30 years. Compared with the general population, no statistically significant excesses were observed for such hypothesized causes as lung cancer (14 observed v 21.