A mortality survey of employees engaged in the development or manufacture of styrene-based products.

The authors examined the mortality experience of employees whose work assignments involved development or production of styrene-based products. To investigate potential relationships between mortality and work exposure in the diverse chemical operations under study, a multiple agent approach to exposure categorization was adopted. Mortality was less than that of the corresponding U.S. white male population and was consistent with that of an industrial comparison group. Although deaths due to malignant neoplasms were fewer than expected for the total cohort, an increase in lymphatic leukemia was observed among a subgroup of employees who had exposure to polymer extrusion fumes, solvents, and colorants. However, no relationship was found with duration or intensity of exposures experiences by these employees, and the etiology of the lymphatic leukemias was not established. The approach used to characterize exposure in this study may have application in other epidemiologic investigations involving complex work environments.

A fertility study of male employees engaged in the manufacture of glycerine.

The fertility status of male employees engaged in the production of chlorinated three-carbon compounds at Dow Chemical Company's Texas Division was investigated. Males who had not worked in the production of industrial chemicals for at least five years prior to the study period served as controls. Data were obtained from a reproductive medical history, from hormone determinations, from a physician's examination, and from a semen analysis. Sperm counts and percent normal sperm forms were major study variables. Comparisons were made between the control and the study groups and within the study group only for duration of exposure, strength of exposure and a combination of the two. Specific chemical exposure subgroups within the study group were also compared. Although the participation rate for the exposed group was relatively low (64%), results indicated no detrimental effect on fertility from exposure to chlorinated three-carbon compounds at levels occurring in the specified work environment.