Cancer incidence at a hydrometallurgical nickel refinery

Sherritt Gordon Mines Limited established hydrometallurgical nickel refining operations at Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, in 1954. Records of workers with a minimum of one year's employment with Sherritt Gordon Mines were obtained and identification information as well as details of work history were collected and placed on computer. Cancer cases were identified by matching the study records with the computer listings of the Alberta Cancer Registry. Cancer deaths were verified utilizing record-linkage with death registrations of the Alberta Vital Statistics Division. The files of the Alberta Health Care Insurance Commission were used to ascertain the vital status of past employees of Sherritt Gordon Mines Limited. Among the 993 employees in the nickel refining and maintenance groups at Sherritt Gordon Mines, 30 cases of cancer were identified occurring at 13 diagnostic sites. No neoplasms of the nasal cavities or paranasal sinuses were found in the study population. Two cases of lung cancer were detected among maintenance workers. A single case of renal-cell cancer was diagnosed in the nickel-exposure category as well as in the maintenance group. None of the observed-to-expected cancer incidence ratios at the various diagnostic sites were statistically significant at the p less than 0.05 level.