Cancer mortality among man-made vitreous fiber production workers

Our plain-English summary of Cancer mortality among man-made vitreous fiber production workers, by C.E. Rossiter, H.G. Grimm (Epidemiology, 1998).

The study

• Authors: C.E. Rossiter, H.G. Grimm
• Journal: Epidemiology
• Published: 1998;9(2):218-9; author reply 219-20
• Type of article: Comment, Letter
• Cited by: 1 article, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

In this letter to the editor, the authors, writing for the Joint European Medical Research Board (JEMRB), which partly sponsored the report, commented on a 1997 study by Boffetta and colleagues of European man-made vitreous fiber production workers. They argued that socioeconomic status and asbestos exposure still needed to be addressed. For a Danish plant, they estimated that adjusting for social factors would lower the lung cancer standardized mortality ratio for workers employed over 1 year from 1.06 to about 0.86 (95% CI 0.57 to 1.25). They noted that virtually all workers with potential asbestos exposure had worked at a German plant (Plant 12). Both mesothelioma cases there, and a number of lung cancer cases, had been compensated as asbestos-related disease. They accepted that, in total, lung cancer deaths exceeded expected numbers among rock/slag wool production workers, a total that included Plant 12 and used unadjusted national rates for Denmark. The authors concluded this was not a notable excess once socioeconomic status and asbestos were considered, and any residual excess was not likely related to airborne rock/slag wool fibers.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Letter to the editor commenting on a published cohort study (Boffetta et al., 1997) that JEMRB had partly sponsored; no new data were collected
• Who was studied: Workers in the European man-made vitreous fiber production cohort reported by Boffetta et al., with focus on the rock/slag wool sector, a Danish plant (Plant 1) and a German plant (Plant 12)
• Exposure: Rock/slag wool fibers in production plants, potential asbestos exposure at Plant 12 (Germany), and socioeconomic status as a possible confounder
• Main results:
  • The authors estimated that, for workers at the Danish plant employed more than 1 year, adjustment based on the Copenhagen Male Study would lower the lung cancer SMR from 1.06 to about 0.86 (95% CI 0.57 to 1.25)
  • For Danish plant workers with 30 or more years since first employment, the authors estimated the adjusted SMR would be about 1.65 (95% CI 0.65 to 3.40), based on seven deaths
  • The authors pointed to Norwegian data showing a 12% reduction in the standardized incidence ratio when industrial worker reference rates were used instead of national rates, which they considered compatible with the 24% change based on the Copenhagen Male Study
  • Virtually all workers with potential asbestos exposure had worked at Plant 12
  • Both mesothelioma cases from Plant 12, and a number of lung cancer cases, had been compensated for asbestos-related disease
  • The authors accepted that, in total (including Plant 12 and without adjusting the national mortality rates for Denmark), there were more lung cancer deaths than expected among rock/slag wool production workers, based on the comparison populations used
  • The authors stated that respirable fibers had been less than 0.5% of total airborne particulate material by number in the production plants
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the lung cancer excess in rock/slag wool production was not notable once socioeconomic status and asbestos exposure were taken into account, and that any remaining excess was not likely related to airborne rock/slag wool fibers

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Lung cancer.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Vitreous.

Related studies

• Historical cohort study of US man-made vitreous fiber production workers: II. Mortality from mesothelioma — G.M. Marsh, M.J. Gula, et al. (2001)
• Historical cohort study of US man-made vitreous fiber production workers: I. 1992 fiberglass cohort follow-up: initial findings — G.M. Marsh, A.O. Youk, et al. (2001)
• Man-made vitreous fibers and workers' health. An overview of the epidemiologic evidence — R. Saracci, L. Simonato (1982)
• Respiratory health effects of man-made vitreous (mineral) fibres — P. De Vuyst, P. Dumortier, et al. (1995)
• Respiratory cancer and exposure to man-made vitreous fibers: a systematic review — D. Berrigan (2002)
• Production of reactive oxygen species by man-made vitreous fibres in human polymorphonuclear leukocytes — M. Ruotsalainen, M.R. Hirvonen, et al. (1999)

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