Metal-material workers and lung cancer in Japan

The distribution by occupation of 39,255 lung cancer deaths in eight years, from 1960 to 1967, was analyzed. An age-standardized comparison of actual deaths and expected deaths revealed that cancer of the lung had tendency to occur with a significantly higher frequency in (1) metal material workers (Obs., 232; Exp., 176.5), and (2) workers in mining and quarrying occupations (Obs., 151; Exp., 127.9). By similar analysis, farmers, miners, and metal-material workers were noted as high-risk occupations for stomach cancer and clerical workers, and farmers were noted as such for leukemia. The value of occupational cancer in monitoring by such a simple analysis was stressed (see Figure 1).