Mortality among workers in the metal polishing and plating industry, 1951--1969

The numbers of deaths by cause among 1,292 white male metal polishers and platers identified from obituary listings in the Journal of the Metal Polishers, Buffers, Platers, and Allied Workers International Union were compared to an expected distribution based on the white male population of Illinois and the U.S. The proportions of deaths due to cancers of the esophagus and the liver were high, particularly among those over 65 and those listed as metal polishers or platers on the death certificate. The PCMRs for these two tumors were also moderately elevated. Despite methodologic limitations, these findings, along with the known use in this industry of chromium and nickel, strong acid and alkaline solutions, and the solvents trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene, suggest that metal polishers and platers may be subject to exposures capable of inducing cancer.