Martha Stanbury

Risk of lung cancer among former chromium smelter workers.

Hexavalent chromium is a known carcinogen. Previous epidemiologic studies in the 1950s of United States workers from seven facilities producing chromium compounds from chromite ore have reported a markedly increased risk for dying from lung cancer. As part of a high risk notification project of workers from four of these facilities, a mortality study was performed. The cohort was assembled in 1990-1991 from the Social Security records of four former chromate producing facilities in northern New Jersey. The study subjects were known to have worked at these facilities some time between 1937 and 1971. Proportionate mortality and proportionate cancer mortality ratios (PCMR) were calculated. The overall risk for lung cancer was a PCMR of 1.51 (confidence limits [CL] 1.29-1.74) for white men and 1.34 (CL 1.00-1.75) for black men. These risks increased with increasing duration of employment and latency since time of first employment. The PCMR for greater than 20 years duration of work and more than 20 years since first exposure was 1.94 (CL 1.15-3.06) for white men and 3.08 (CL 1.13-6.71) for black men. The risk for lung cancer for white men remains elevated more than 20 years after exposure has ceased (PCMR, 1.29; CL 1.03-1.60). The PCMR for nasal cavity/sinus cancer was also found to be a significantly increased, 5.18 (CL 2.37-11.30). A cluster of bladder cancer was seen among black workers from one facility, (PCMR, 3.30; CL 1.42-6.51). Despite the cessation of exposure, former chromium workers remain at significantly increased risk of lung cancer. Although there have been case reports of nasal cavity/ sinus cancer in association with chromium exposure, this is the first epidemiologic study to report a significant increase in these cancers. Limitations in this study include lack of exposure data and lack of information on smoking habits. The lack of increase in other smoking-related diseases besides lung cancer indicates that the increase in lung cancer cannot be attributed to cigarette smoking. The ongoing elevated risk of lung cancer after cessation of exposure emphasizes the need for developing early detection texts for lung cancer.

Introduction to the Summary of Notifiable Noninfectious Conditions and Disease Outbreaks — United States

With this 2016 Summary of Notifiable Noninfectious Conditions and Disease Outbreaks - United States, CDC is publishing official statistics for the occurrence of nationally notifiable noninfectious conditions and disease outbreaks for the second time in the same volume of MMWR as the annual Summary of Notifiable Infectious Diseases and Conditions (1). As was the case for the 2015 Summary of Notifiable Noninfectious Conditions and Disease Outbreaks (2), this joint publication is the result of a request by the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) to provide readers with information on all nationally notifiable conditions and disease outbreaks in a single publication.

Evolution of a state occupational lead exposure registry : 1986-1996

In the first 11 full years of operation (January 1, 1986, through December 31, 1996) of an adult lead registry in New Jersey, 23,456 reports of occupational lead toxicity (blood lead level > or = 1.21 mumol/L) in 4,011 workers, involving 496 workplaces, were received. The majority of the reports and workers were from the manufacturing and construction industries. Over the 11 years, the annual numbers of reports and workers declined, although the annual numbers of involved workplaces remained stable, as did the number of newly identified workers and workplaces. The decline occurred primarily in the manufacturing industry; the construction industry experienced an increase in reports and reported workers. For all years combined, 36% of reported workers had at least one blood lead level equal to or greater than 1.93 mumol/L, although in the most recent years the percentage dropped overall and in both the manufacturing and construction industries.

Lead Hazard Surveillance Using an Environmental Reporting Database

Abstract This article describes the use of an environmental reporting database to identify potential lead exposure hazards in companies listing lead in their inventory of reportable chemicals in the workplace. The findings provide insight into the prevalence of underreporting of elevated blood lead levels that occurs in occupational lead surveillance systems which utilize laboratory reporting. We identified over 6000 companies reporting lead on the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection—Right To Know survey and contacted 701 companies believed to have potential for occupational lead exposure. Unidentified cases of employee elevated blood lead levels and subsequent underreporting of these cases by clinical laboratories do not appear to be a significant problem in the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services lead surveillance system among companies self-reporting lead inventories to the states Department of Environmental Protection. The uses and limitations of environmental databases ...