Mortality and incidence of cancer among Swedish rubber workers, 1952-1981

The mortality and incidence of cancer was studied among 8,734 workers from two Swedish rubber manufacturing companies. Mortality was investigated from 1952 to 1981 and cancer incidence from 1959 to 1980. The expected numbers of deaths were calculated from national statistics. No significant risk excesses were detected when the cohort was analyzed without consideration of employment time or latency period. However, the mortality from coronary heart disease and the incidence of lung cancer were increased when the study period was limited to greater than or equal 40 years since first employment. The standardized mortality ratio for coronary heart disease correlated positively with employment duration. The mortality from asthma, bronchitis, and emphysema was nonsignificantly increased. The incidence of bladder cancer was increased among individuals with heavy and long-term exposure in the weighing and mixing departments. Twenty-five percent of the individuals in the cohort were not Swedish citizens at the time of employment, and an analysis of the mortality and cancer incidence in this group showed a markedly increased lung cancer incidence for certain immigrant groups, probably mainly due to ethnic factors. The results indicate that ethnic factors must be considered in the analysis of occupational groups when a high proportion of the workers are immigrants.