Mortality study among workers producing chromate pigments in France

In a follow-up study of 294 men who had worked for at least 6 months in a chromate-producing factory in France between 1958 and 1987, only 16 were lost to follow-up and the number of person-years in the study was 5207. Occupational data were provided by the administration of the plant. The causes of deaths were ascertained from hospital and general practitioners' records. The observed numbers of deaths were compared with the expected numbers based on local rates with adjustment for age, sex and calendar time (standardized mortality ratio, SMR). The overall mortality did not differ significantly from that expected (SMR = 1.20, 95% CI = 0.98-1.47), whereas mortality due to lung cancer was in significant excess (SMR = 3.60, 95% CI = 2.13-5.68). Significantly higher lung cancer SMRs were found for workers whose duration of employment was more than 10 years. A non-significant excess was observed for all forms of digestive tract cancer (SMR = 1.30, 95% CI = 0.60-2.47). There were two cases of brain cancer when 0.24 was expected (SMR = 8.44, 95% CI = 1.02-30.49). No previous report has mentioned an association of brain cancer with chromate pigments; however, because of the small numbers involved, a chance excess should be considered.