[High risk of pleural mesothelioma among the state railroad carriage repair workers]. / Alto rischio di morte per mesotelioma pleurico in un'Officina Grandi Riparazioni delle Ferrovie dello Stato.

Exposure to asbestos in a facility for the repair of railroad carriages in Bologna was initially studied in 1980, when the Local Health Unit started a program of primary prevention on request of the Unions. At that time workers employed in jobs with high exposure to asbestos were identified. The mortality experience of these 173 subjects was investigated from 01.01.1979 through 31.12.1997, and compared to that of the population of Emilia Romagna. SMR for all causes was 69, with upper limit of the confidence interval lower than 100; this was largely due to a significant decrease of cardiovascular mortality. Among neoplasms, there was a significant excess of pleural mesothelioma (6 observed, 0.09 expected); one more subject died for peritoneal mesothelioma and one for malignant mesothelioma of unspecified site. About half of the subjects deceased for neoplastic disease (8/17) were affected by mesothelioma.

Cohort mortality study of rubber and plastics product makers in Italy.

A retrospective cohort mortality study was carried out in 20 industrial factories in the Local Health Unit Bologna Sud (Emilia Romagna, Italy), where different rubber and plastics products were manufactured. The cohort consisted of 925 subjects (578 males and 347 females) employed for at least six months continuously; follow-up was between the beginning of operation of each factory, ranging between mid fifties and mid seventies, and 31 December 1989. For those exposed more than one year cause specific Standardized Mortality Ratios (SMRs) were computed using regional rates for comparison, 90% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated assuming the Poisson distribution. Among the 748 subjects employed for more than one year (457 males and 291 females) there were no lost to follow-up, 54 individuals were dead (41 males and 13 females) and for three subjects the cause of death was unknown. The results showed that all causes mortality was above expectancy in the total cohort (SMR = 123; 54 Obs; 90% CI = 97-154), among males (SMR = 117; 41 Obs; 90% CI = 89-152) and females (SMR = 143; 13 Obs; 90% CI = 85-228). Increased mortality for all malignant tumours was observed in the total cohort (SMR = 150; 25 Obs; 90% CI = 104-209) and for both genders. All nine lung cancer cases were observed among males, the SMR was equal to 218 and was statistically significant; seven cases occurred at duration of exposure less than 10 years and six at latency up to 20 years. The interpretation in terms of causality of the present investigation is limited by the small number of observations and by exposure definition solely in terms of employment in the study factories; nonetheless the results are indicating the existence, in this group of rubber and plastics product makers, of an adverse health effect which deserve further investigation.