Cadmium and lung cancer mortality accounting for simultaneous arsenic exposure.

Objectives: Prior investigations identified an association between airborne cadmium and lung cancer but questions remain regarding confounding by arsenic, a well-established lung carcinogen.

Methods: A cadmium smelter population exhibiting excess lung cancer was re-analysed using a retrospective exposure assessment for arsenic (As), updated mortality (1940-2002), a revised cadmium (Cd) exposure matrix and improved work history information.

Results: Cumulative exposure metrics for both cadmium and arsenic were strongly associated making estimation of their independent effects difficult.

Update of the NIOSH life table analysis system: a person-years analysis program for the windows computing environment.

Background: Person-years analysis is a fundamental tool of occupational epidemiology. A life table analysis system (LTAS), previously developed by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, was limited by its platform and analysis and reporting capabilities. We describe the updating of LTAS for the Windows operating system (LTAS.

Mortality and end-stage renal disease incidence among dry cleaning workers.

Objective: Perchloroethylene (PCE) is a known animal carcinogen and probable human carcinogen. Dry cleaning exposures, particularly PCE, are also associated with renal toxicity. The objective was to follow-up a cohort of dry cleaners to evaluate mortality and assess end-stage renal disease (ESRD) morbidity.

Risk of lung cancer associated with quantitative beryllium exposure metrics within an occupational cohort.

Objectives: Beryllium has been identified as a human carcinogen on the basis of animal and epidemiological studies. The authors recently reported updated associations between lung cancer and beryllium exposure in a large, pooled occupational cohort. The authors conducted the present study to evaluate the shape of exposure-response associations between different exposure metrics and lung cancer in this cohort, considering potential confounders (race, plant, professional and short-term work status, and exposure to other lung carcinogens).

Mortality among members of a truck driver trade association.

Previous studies report that truck drivers are at increased risk for illness and on-the-job mortality. It is unknown whether owner-operator truck drivers face the same risks as employee drivers, yet few studies have targeted owner-operators as a study population. This study examined the overall and cause-specific mortality ratios for a cohort with owner-operator truck drivers constituting 69% of the study population.

Cohort mortality study of workers at seven beryllium processing plants: update and associations with cumulative and maximum exposure.

Objectives: To extend follow-up of cause-specific mortality in workers at seven beryllium processing plants and to estimate associations between mortality risk and beryllium exposure.

Methods: 9199 workers were followed for mortality from 1940 through 2005. Standardised mortality ratios (SMRs) were estimated based on US population comparisons for lung, nervous system and urinary tract cancers, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), chronic kidney disease, and categories containing chronic beryllium disease (CBD) and cor pulmonale.

High dietary niacin intake is associated with decreased chromosome translocation frequency in airline pilots.

Experimental studies suggest that B vitamins such as niacin, folate, riboflavin, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 may protect against DNA damage induced by ionising radiation (IR). However, to date, data from IR-exposed human populations are not available. We examined the intakes of these B vitamins and their food sources in relation to the frequency of chromosome translocations as a biomarker of cumulative DNA damage, in eighty-two male airline pilots.

Bromide and N-acetyl-S-(n-propyl)-L-cysteine in urine from workers exposed to 1-bromopropane solvents from vapor degreasing or adhesive manufacturing.

Objectives: 1-Bromopropane (1-BP) is an alternative for ozone depleting and other solvents; it is used in aerosol products, adhesives, and cleaning solvents. There is concern that 1-BP may be a reproductive and neurological toxicant. Mercapturic acid conjugates are excreted in urine from 1-BP metabolism involving debromination.

High dietary antioxidant intakes are associated with decreased chromosome translocation frequency in airline pilots.

Background: Dietary antioxidants may protect against DNA damage induced by endogenous and exogenous sources, including ionizing radiation (IR), but data from IR-exposed human populations are limited.

Objective: The objective was to examine the association between the frequency of chromosome translocations, as a biomarker of cumulative DNA damage, and intakes of vitamins C and E and carotenoids in 82 male airline pilots.

Design: Dietary intakes were estimated by using a self-administered semiquantitative food-frequency questionnaire.

N-acetyl-S-(n-propyl)-l-cysteine in urine from workers exposed to 1-bromopropane in foam cushion spray adhesives.

1-Bromopropane (1-BP) has been marketed as an alternative for ozone depleting and other solvents; it is used in aerosol products, adhesives, metal, precision, and electronics cleaning solvents. Mechanisms of toxicity of 1-BP are not fully understood, but it may be a neurological and reproductive toxicant. Sparse exposure information prompted this study using 1-BP air sampling and urinary metabolites.

Presence of tungsten-containing fibers in tungsten refining and manufacturing processes.

In tungsten refining and manufacturing processes, a series of tungsten oxides are typically formed as intermediates in the production of tungsten powder. The present study was conducted to characterize airborne tungsten-containing fiber dimensions, elemental composition and concentrations in the US tungsten refining and manufacturing industry. During the course of normal employee work activities, seven personal breathing zone and 62 area air samples were collected and analyzed using National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) fiber sampling and counting methods to determine dimensions, composition and airborne concentrations of fibers.

Biological exposure assessment to tetrachloroethylene for workers in the dry cleaning industry.

Background: The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility of conducting biological tetrachloroethylene (perchloroethylene, PCE) exposure assessments of dry cleaning employees in conjunction with evaluation of possible PCE health effects.

Methods: Eighteen women from four dry cleaning facilities in southwestern Ohio were monitored in a pilot study of workers with PCE exposure. Personal breathing zone samples were collected from each employee on two consecutive work days.

A comparison of two methods for estimating prevalence ratios.

Background: It is usually preferable to model and estimate prevalence ratios instead of odds ratios in cross-sectional studies when diseases or injuries are not rare. Problems with existing methods of modeling prevalence ratios include lack of convergence, overestimated standard errors, and extrapolation of simple univariate formulas to multivariable models. We compare two of the newer methods using simulated data and real data from SAS online examples.

Ethnic, racial, and gender variations in health among farm operators in the United States.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to collect baseline prevalence data on the health problems faced by minority, white, and female farm operators.

Methods: An occupational health survey of farm operators was conducted by the U.S.

Race, occupation, and lung cancer: detecting disparities with death certificate data.

Objectives: To determine whether the analysis of death certificate data would reveal the same relationship among race, occupational exposure, and lung cancer mortality observed by a large cohort study.

Methods: An occupation-specific mortality odds ratio (MOR) for lung cancer (ICD-162) versus all other causes was calculated for 218,341 black men and white men who had been employed in the metal industries.

Results: Black men were at increased risk for lung cancer mortality when compared with white men among the 4668 oven workers (MOR = 1.

Evaluation of a proposed area equation for improved exothermic process control.

Our understanding of heat transfer and meteorological theories and their applications for engineering control design have been refined since the collective work in ventilation engineering for manufacturing process was published by Hemeon in 1955. These refined theories were reviewed and used to develop a newly proposed equation to estimate buoyant plume area (A). The area is a key parameter in estimating the plume volumetric flow (Q=UA) required for exothermic process control.

Evaluation of a proposed velocity equation for improved exothermic process control.

Exothermic or heated processes create potentially unsafe work environments for an estimated 5-10 million American workers each year. Excessive heat and process contaminants have the potential to cause adverse health effects in exposed workers. Owing to the potential hazards, engineering controls are recommended for these processes.

DNA adducts in granulocytes of hospital workers exposed to ethylene oxide.

Background: Ethylene oxide (EtO), an important industrial chemical intermediate and sterilant, is classified as a human carcinogen. Occupational EtO exposure in many countries is regulated at 1 ppm (8-hr TWA), but levels of EtO-DNA adducts in humans with low occupational EtO exposures have not been reported.

Methods: We examined the formation of N7-(2'-hydroxyethyl)guanine (N7-HEG), a major DNA adduct of EtO, in 58 EtO-exposed sterilizer operators and six nonexposed workers from ten hospitals.

Effects of retrofit emission controls and work practices on perchloroethylene exposures in small dry-cleaning shops.

The effectiveness of commercially available interventions for reducing workers' perchloroethylene exposures in three small dry-cleaning shops was evaluated. Depending upon machine configuration, the intervention consisted of the addition of either a refrigerated condenser or a closed-loop carbon adsorber to the existing dry-cleaning machine. These relatively inexpensive (less than $5000) engineering controls were designed to reduce perchloroethylene emissions when dry-cleaning machine doors were opened for loading or unloading.

An evaluation of retrofit engineering control interventions to reduce perchloroethylene exposures in commercial dry-cleaning shops.

Real-time monitoring was used to evaluate the ability of engineering control devices retrofitted on two existing dry-cleaning machines to reduce worker exposures to perchloroethylene. In one dry-cleaning shop, a refrigerated condenser was installed on a machine that had a water-cooled condenser to reduce the air temperature, improve vapor recovery, and lower exposures. In a second shop, a carbon adsorber was retrofitted on a machine to adsorb residual perchloroethylene not collected by the existing refrigerated condenser to improve vapor recovery and reduce exposures.