Update: cohort mortality study of workers highly exposed to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) during the manufacture of electrical capacitors, 1940-1998

Prince, Mary M; Hein, Misty J; Ruder, Avima M; Waters, Martha A; Laber, Patricia A; Whelan, Elizabeth A

doi:10.1186/1476-069X-5-13

Environmental Health

Table 2 Observed deaths and SMRs for selected causes of death^a, stratified by gender and plant, 1940–1998.^b

From: Update: cohort mortality study of workers highly exposed to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) during the manufacture of electrical capacitors, 1940-1998

Underlying cause of death (ICD-9)	Combined plants									Plant 1			Plant 2
	Total			Men			Women
	O	SMR	95% CI	O	SMR	95% CI	O	SMR	95% CI	O	SMR	95% CI	O	SMR	95% CI
All deaths	798	0.99	0.92 – 1.06	355	0.97	0.88 – 1.08	443	1.00	0.91 – 1.09	310	0.95	0.85 – 1.07	488	1.01	0.92 – 1.10
All cancers (140–208)	218	1.01	0.88 – 1.15	78	0.87	0.69 – 1.09	140	1.11	0.93 – 1.31	71	0.82	0.64 – 1.03	147	1.14	0.96 – 1.34
MN of buccal cavity and pharynx (140–149)	4	1.04	0.28 – 2.67	2	0.89	0.11 – 3.20	2	1.27	0.15 – 4.59	3	1.75	0.36 – 5.11	1	0.47	0.01 – 2.63
MN digestive system and peritoneum (150-159)	63	1.24	0.95 – 1.59	17	0.78	0.45 – 1.25	46	1.59	1.16 – 2.12	18	0.88	0.52 – 1.38	45	1.49	1.09 – 2.00
MN of esophagus (150)	2	0.55	0.07 – 2.00	0			2	1.67	0.20 – 6.03	0			2	1.03	0.12 – 3.72
MN of stomach (151)	5	0.84	0.27 – 1.97	4	1.35	0.37 – 3.45	1	0.34	0.01 – 1.87	0			5	1.46	0.47 – 3.40
MN of intestine, excluding rectum (152–153)	27	1.32	0.87 – 1.93	3	0.39	0.08 – 1.14	24	1.89	1.21 – 2.82	8	1.00	0.43 – 1.97	19	1.53	0.92 – 2.40
MN of rectum (154)	6	1.47	0.54 – 3.21	2	1.12	0.14 – 4.06	4	1.75	0.48 – 4.46	1	0.60	0.02 – 3.34	5	2.08	0.67 – 4.85
MN of biliary passages, liver and gall bladder (155–156)	11	2.11	1.05 – 3.77	4	1.86	0.51 – 4.77	7	2.28	0.92 – 4.69	4	1.92	0.52 – 4.92	7	2.23	0.90 – 4.59
MN of pancreas (157)	12	1.13	0.59 – 1.98	4	0.91	0.25 – 2.32	8	1.30	0.56 – 2.56	5	1.17	0.38 – 2.73	7	1.11	0.45 – 2.29
MN respiratory system (160–165)	60	1.03	0.79 – 1.33	30	0.90	0.61 – 1.28	30	1.21	0.82 – 1.73	25	0.95	0.62 – 1.41	35	1.10	0.76 – 1.53
MN of trachea, bronchus, and lung (162)	55	0.98	0.74 – 1.28	27	0.85	0.56 – 1.23	28	1.16	0.77 – 1.68	22	0.87	0.55 – 1.32	33	1.07	0.74 – 1.51
MN of breast (174–175)	15	0.59	0.33 – 0.98	0			15	0.60	0.33 – 0.98	2	0.27	0.03 – 0.97	13	0.73	0.39 – 1.25
MN of female genital organs (179–184)	21	1.29	0.80 – 1.97				21	1.29	0.80 – 1.97	5	1.07	0.35 – 2.50	16	1.38	0.79 – 2.24
MN of cervix uteri (180)	5	1.32	0.43 – 3.09				5	1.32	0.43 – 3.09	2	1.93	0.23 – 6.97	3	1.09	0.23 – 3.19
MN of other and unspecified parts of the uterus (179, 181, 182)	7	1.87	0.75 – 3.84				7	1.87	0.75 – 3.84	3	2.82	0.58 – 8.25	4	1.49	0.41 – 3.80
MN of ovary, fallopian tube, and broad ligament (183)	9	1.10	0.50 – 2.08				9	1.10	0.50 – 2.08	0			9	1.56	0.71 – 2.96
MN of prostate (185)	7	1.14	0.46 – 2.35	7	1.14	0.46 – 2.35				5	1.39	0.45 – 3.25	2	0.79	0.10 – 2.85
MN urinary organs (188–189)	12	1.50	0.77 – 2.62	8	1.80	0.77 – 3.54	4	1.12	0.31 – 2.88	4	1.13	0.31 – 2.88	8	1.79	0.77 – 3.54
MN of kidney (189.0–189.2)	8	1.82	0.79 – 3.60	5	2.12	0.69 – 4.96	3	1.48	0.30 – 4.32	2	1.05	0.13 – 3.80	6	2.42	0.88 – 5.26
MN of bladder and other urinary organs (188, 189.3–189.9)	4	1.10	0.30 – 2.82	3	1.43	0.29 – 4.18	1	0.66	0.02 – 3.64	2	1.21	0.15 – 4.37	2	1.01	0.12 – 3.65
MN of skin (172–173)	2	0.52	0.06 – 1.87	2	0.92	0.11 – 3.33	0			1	0.61	0.02 – 3.39	1	0.45	0.01 – 2.50
Melanoma (173)^c	1	0.34	0.01 – 1.87	1	0.60	0.02 – 3.35	0			1	0.80	0.02 – 4.45	0
MN of brain (191, 192)	3	0.50	0.10 – 1.47	2	0.70	0.08 – 2.53	1	0.32	0.01 – 1.80	2	0.82	0.10 – 2.96	1	0.28	0.01 – 1.58
MN of other and unspecified sites (194–199)	9	0.62	0.28 – 1.18	3	0.50	0.10 – 1.46	6	0.71	0.26 – 1.55	2	0.35	0.04 – 1.25	7	0.81	0.32 – 1.66
Neoplasms of lymphatic and hematopoietic tissue (200–208)	22	1.09	0.68 – 1.65	7	0.77	0.31 – 1.60	15	1.35	0.76 – 2.23	4	0.49	0.13 – 1.26	18	1.50	0.89 – 2.37
Leukemia and aleukemia (204–208)	4	0.53	0.14 – 1.36	2	0.57	0.07 – 2.07	2	0.50	0.06 – 1.79	0			4	0.90	0.24 – 2.29
Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (200, 202)^c	10	1.31	0.63 – 2.41	2	0.60	0.07 – 2.18	8	1.86	0.80 – 3.66	1	0.32	0.01 – 1.80	9	1.98	0.91 – 3.77
Myeloma (203)^c	7	2.11	0.84 – 4.34	3	2.22	0.46 – 6.50	4	2.03	0.55 – 5.19	3	2.25	0.46 – 6.59	4	2.01	0.55 – 5.14
Diabetes mellitus (250)	16	0.88	0.50 – 1.43	4	0.63	0.17 – 1.61	12	1.02	0.53 – 1.78	5	0.73	0.24 – 1.72	11	0.97	0.48 – 1.74
Diseases of the nervous system and sense organs (320–389)	18	1.37	0.81 – 2.17	2	0.40	0.05 – 1.44	16	1.97	1.13 – 3.20	9	1.78	0.81 – 3.38	9	1.12	0.51 – 2.12
Other diseases of the nervous system and sense organs (320–337, 341–389)	16	1.35	0.77 – 2.19	1	0.22	0.01 – 1.21	15	2.07	1.16 – 3.42	8	1.75	0.75 – 3.44	8	1.10	0.47 – 2.17
Diseases of the heart (390–398, 402, 404, 410–414, 420–429)	286	1.06	0.94 – 1.19	150	1.17	0.99 – 1.38	136	0.96	0.81 – 1.14	120	1.08	0.89 – 1.29	166	1.05	0.90 – 1.22
Ischemic heart disease (410–414)	224	1.12	0.98 – 1.28	120	1.20	0.99 – 1.43	104	1.04	0.85 – 1.26	93	1.10	0.88 – 1.34	131	1.14	0.95 – 1.35
Hypertension with heart disease (402, 404)	4	0.46	0.13 – 1.18	1	0.33	0.01 – 1.85	3	0.53	0.11 – 1.55	1	0.32	0.01 – 1.77	3	0.54	0.11 – 1.59
Other diseases of the heart (420–423, 425–428, 429.2–429.9)	42	0.87	0.62 – 1.17	20	0.98	0.60 – 1.51	22	0.79	0.49 – 1.19	20	1.06	0.65 – 1.64	22	0.74	0.47 – 1.13
Other diseases of the circulatory system (401, 403, 405, 415–417, 430–459)	82	1.07	0.85 – 1.33	27	1.03	0.68 – 1.49	55	1.10	0.83 – 1.43	29	1.02	0.68 – 1.46	53	1.10	0.83 – 1.44
Diseases of the respiratory system (460–519)	46	0.79	0.58 – 1.05	19	0.76	0.46 – 1.19	27	0.81	0.53 – 1.18	21	0.88	0.54 – 1.34	25	0.73	0.47 – 1.07
Chronic and unspecified bronchitis (490, 491)	3	1.97	0.41 – 5.76	1	1.43	0.04 – 7.97	2	2.42	0.29 – 8.74	1	1.54	0.04 – 8.56	2	2.29	0.28 – 8.26
Emphysema (492)	8	1.15	0.50 – 2.28	4	1.10	0.30 – 2.81	4	1.22	0.33 – 3.11	5	1.59	0.51 – 3.71	3	0.79	0.16 – 2.32
Pneumoconiosis and other respiratory diseases (470–478, 494–519)	20	0.74	0.45 – 1.14	9	0.74	0.34 – 1.41	11	0.73	0.37 – 1.31	10	0.87	0.42 – 1.61	10	0.64	0.31 – 1.18
Diseases of the digestive system (520–579)	29	0.80	0.54 – 1.15	14	0.82	0.45 – 1.38	15	0.78	0.44 – 1.29	6	0.41	0.15 – 0.89	23	1.07	0.68 – 1.60
Cirrhosis of the liver (571)	17	1.02	0.59 – 1.63	10	1.06	0.51 – 1.95	7	0.96	0.39 – 1.99	4	0.56	0.15 – 1.42	13	1.37	0.73 – 2.34
Diseases of the genitourinary system (580–629)	13	1.04	0.55 – 1.78	5	1.15	0.37 – 2.69	8	0.98	0.42 – 1.93	2	0.43	0.05 – 1.56	11	1.39	0.69 – 2.49
Accidents (E800-E949)	31	0.75	0.51 – 1.06	19	0.67	0.40 – 1.05	12	0.91	0.47 – 1.60	18	1.07	0.63 – 1.69	13	0.53	0.28 – 0.91
Suicide (E950-E959)	20	1.37	0.83 – 2.11	14	1.36	0.74 – 2.28	6	1.39	0.51 – 3.02	12	1.90	0.98 – 3.32	8	0.96	0.41 – 1.90
Homicide (E960-E978)	4	0.74	0.20 – 1.90	4	1.00	0.27 – 2.56	0			2	0.95	0.11 – 3.42	2	0.61	0.07 – 2.21
Unknown cause of death	11			7			4			5			6
Other	8	0.40	0.17 – 0.79	5	0.55	0.18 – 1.28	3	0.28	0.06 – 0.81	1	0.14	0.00 – 0.75	7	0.56	0.22 – 1.15

Abbreviations: ICD-9: International Classification of Disease s, Ninth Revision; O: observed number of deaths; SMR: standardized mortality ratio based on U.S. referent rates; CI: confidence interval; MN: malignant neoplasm.
^a Categories omitted from the table include tuberculosis (ICD-9 = 010–018, 2 deaths), benign and unspecified neoplasms (ICD-9 = 210–239, 2 deaths), diseases of the blood and blood forming organs (ICD-9 = 280–289, 4 deaths), mental, psychoneurotic, and personality disorders (ICD-9 = 290–319, 2 deaths), diseases of the skin and subcutaneous tissue (ICD-9 = 680–709, 1 death), musculoskeletal diseases (ICD-9 = 710–739, 1 death), and symptoms and ill-defined conditions (ICD-9 = 780–796, 798, 799, 4 deaths).
^b Person-years at risk and observed deaths among 2572 workers in jobs with potential for the highest, most direct exposure to PCBs began accruing in 1940.
^c Person-years at risk and observed deaths began accruing in 1960 for melanoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and myeloma due to rate file restrictions.

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ISSN: 1476-069X

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