[Neoplasm risk in men occupationally exposed to asbestos dust]

To evaluate the magnitude of cancer risk in those occupationally exposed to asbestos dust, a historically prospective cohort has been investigated. The observation covered 2403 men employed for at least 3 months, within 1945-1973, in a factory producing various asbestos products--including chrysotile. The cohort availability on 31 Dec. 1981 was 91.3%. The risk analysis was based on the standardized mortality ratio (SMR) calculated by the man-years method. The reference group was composed of general men population in Poland. Totally, in the test cohort 401 deaths were certified, in this 73 due to malignant tumours and 31 due to the respiratory system cancer. The total standardized mortality ratio (SMR) came to 85, for malignant tumours, SMR = 104.8 for the respiratory system cancer SMR = 144.7, lung cancer-139.5%. Those values were not statistically significant. In the cohort of those employed during 1945-1955, selected due to a very high concentration of asbestos dust at this time and long observation time from the first contact with asbestos dust, the total SMR was 90.7, the one for malignant tumours-136.2 (p less than 0.05). In this cohort 21 deaths for the respiratory system cancer were observed, the total SMR = 191.1 (p less than 0.01), in this 18 for the lung cancer, SMR = 187.1 (p less than 0.05). The other cancer groups did not exhibit any statistically significant standardized mortality rate. The analysis points to a considerable lung cancer risk in those occupationally exposed to asbestos dust at the time of high non-controlled asbestos dust concentrations.