Mortality rates among chemical workers in the Kanawha Valley of West Virginia: 1940-1999.

ABSTRACT

To expand a cohort of chemical workers in the Kanawha Valley, we conducted a study of 33,225 workers who were employed at three locations between 1940 and 1999. We observed no increase in overall cancer mortality. Higher risk estimates were observed for lymphosarcoma and reticulosarcoma among hourly employees who worked at the Institute or South Charleston locations. This finding was limited to men hired before 1960. We observed no new cases of angiosarcoma of the liver, a cause of death previously reported in association with vinyl chloride production at the South Charleston location. Specific risk factors for lymphosarcoma and reticulosarcoma have not been identified in previous targeted studies of this population and it is unlikely that additional cause-specific research will elucidate the etiology. Updates of the entire cohort will continue and can be used as a comparison population for chemical specific studies within these three plants.