Mortality among masons in Iceland.

An investigation was carried out to determine the cause of death among 450 masons in Iceland who had been exposed to hexavalent chromium, a trace element in cement. The cohort was defined as all men born between 1905 and 1945 who had, according to the Register of Masons and Stone-cutters, finished v...

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Published in:Occupational and Environmental Medicine
Main Authors: Rafnsson, V, Jóhannesdóttir, S G
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 1986
Subjects:
Online Access:http://oem.bmj.com/cgi/content/short/43/8/522
https://doi.org/10.1136/oem.43.8.522
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spelling fthighwire:oai:open-archive.highwire.org:oemed:43/8/522 2023-05-15T16:46:40+02:00 Mortality among masons in Iceland. Rafnsson, V Jóhannesdóttir, S G 1986-08-01 00:00:00.0 text/html http://oem.bmj.com/cgi/content/short/43/8/522 https://doi.org/10.1136/oem.43.8.522 en eng BMJ Publishing Group Ltd http://oem.bmj.com/cgi/content/short/43/8/522 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/oem.43.8.522 Copyright (C) 1986, BMJ Publishing Group Ltd Research Article TEXT 1986 fthighwire https://doi.org/10.1136/oem.43.8.522 2013-05-26T23:19:38Z An investigation was carried out to determine the cause of death among 450 masons in Iceland who had been exposed to hexavalent chromium, a trace element in cement. The cohort was defined as all men born between 1905 and 1945 who had, according to the Register of Masons and Stone-cutters, finished vocational training as masons. For deaths occurring between 1951 and 1982 information was obtained from the Statistical Bureau of Iceland. Expected death rates were calculated, based on the national rates for men in the corresponding age groups. The total number of deaths from all causes was less than expected for the whole study period (81 v 85.86) but, with a 20 year latent period, 58 deaths were found against 50.57 expected; with a 30 year latent period, 38 deaths were found against 27.82 expected, which may, to a large extent, be accounted for by an excess of deaths from lung cancer. Nine deaths from lung cancer were found in the cohort, eight with 20 and 30 year latent periods compared with expected rates of 2.87, 2.19, and 1.28 respectively. The results seem to indicate that the increased number of deaths from lung cancer among the masons has a causal relation to occupational exposure. Text Iceland HighWire Press (Stanford University) Occupational and Environmental Medicine 43 8 522 525
institution Open Polar
collection HighWire Press (Stanford University)
op_collection_id fthighwire
language English
topic Research Article
spellingShingle Research Article
Rafnsson, V
Jóhannesdóttir, S G
Mortality among masons in Iceland.
topic_facet Research Article
description An investigation was carried out to determine the cause of death among 450 masons in Iceland who had been exposed to hexavalent chromium, a trace element in cement. The cohort was defined as all men born between 1905 and 1945 who had, according to the Register of Masons and Stone-cutters, finished vocational training as masons. For deaths occurring between 1951 and 1982 information was obtained from the Statistical Bureau of Iceland. Expected death rates were calculated, based on the national rates for men in the corresponding age groups. The total number of deaths from all causes was less than expected for the whole study period (81 v 85.86) but, with a 20 year latent period, 58 deaths were found against 50.57 expected; with a 30 year latent period, 38 deaths were found against 27.82 expected, which may, to a large extent, be accounted for by an excess of deaths from lung cancer. Nine deaths from lung cancer were found in the cohort, eight with 20 and 30 year latent periods compared with expected rates of 2.87, 2.19, and 1.28 respectively. The results seem to indicate that the increased number of deaths from lung cancer among the masons has a causal relation to occupational exposure.
format Text
author Rafnsson, V
Jóhannesdóttir, S G
author_facet Rafnsson, V
Jóhannesdóttir, S G
author_sort Rafnsson, V
title Mortality among masons in Iceland.
title_short Mortality among masons in Iceland.
title_full Mortality among masons in Iceland.
title_fullStr Mortality among masons in Iceland.
title_full_unstemmed Mortality among masons in Iceland.
title_sort mortality among masons in iceland.
publisher BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
publishDate 1986
url http://oem.bmj.com/cgi/content/short/43/8/522
https://doi.org/10.1136/oem.43.8.522
genre Iceland
genre_facet Iceland
op_relation http://oem.bmj.com/cgi/content/short/43/8/522
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/oem.43.8.522
op_rights Copyright (C) 1986, BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1136/oem.43.8.522
container_title Occupational and Environmental Medicine
container_volume 43
container_issue 8
container_start_page 522
op_container_end_page 525
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