ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Experimental data and large occupational cohort studies in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) manufacturing plants have shown that vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) at high environmental concentrations, such as those measured in western chemical companies at least until the mid-1970's can cause liver angiosarcoma. OBJECTIVE: To describe a recent, accurately diagnosed case of fatal liver angiosarcoma, for which it was possible to establish the causal relationship with past VCM exposure. RESULTS: The deceased subject had been working as blue-collar for at least eleven years (1968-1979) in a PVC plant. VCM exposure was high on average and very high during autoclave cleaning, compared with VCM air measurements reported in those years at plants in Europe and the United States. The latency period was about 40 years. The duration of exposure, the cumulative exposure and the latency described were similar to those associated in the scientific literature with an excess risk for liver angiosarcoma. CONCLUSION: The Italian Workers' Compensation Authority (INAIL) has already acknowledged the occupational origin of this neoplastic disease with clear advantages for all parties concerned, not only in economical terms.
