NIOSHTIC-2 Publications Search

Relation of smoking to neoplasia in asbestos workers (final report).

Selikoff IJ

Environmental Sciences Laboratory, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York 1979 May; :1-25

00091886

A cohort of 17,800 male asbestos (1332214) insulation workers was compared with a control group of 73,763 males to evaluate the combined effects of cigarette smoking and exposure to asbestos dust in relation to death from lung cancer and chronic infectious pulmonary diseases. The relationship to cancer other than mesothelioma and lung cancer and the degree to which occupational exposure to asbestos dust increases total death rates from all cancers combined also was studied. Data were collected for the period between January 1, 1967 and December 31, 1976. A strong synergistic effect between asbestos dust and cigarette smoke exposure and the risk of lung cancer was indicated. Among asbestos workers, former cigarette smokers had substantially lower death rates than smokers who maintained the habit. Cigarette smoking also increased the risk of death from asbestosis. Exposure to asbestos dust resulted in increased death rates from lung cancer, mesothelioma, and asbestosis. Exposure to the dust also increased death rates from cancers of the colon and rectum, esophagus, kidney, and the group comprising the larynx, pharynx, and buccal cavity.

NIOSH-Grant; Pulmonary-system-disorders; Asbestos-fibers; Airborne-dusts; Carcinogenesis; Respiratory-system-disorders; Mortality-data; Smoking; Physiological-effects; Asbestos-products; Insulation-workers

Community Medicine Mount Sinai School of Medicine Fifth Avenue and 100 Street New York, N Y 10029

1332-21-4

19790530

Final Grant Report

629948

Grant

1979

Grant-Number-R01-OH-00320

OEP

Environmental Sciences Laboratory, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York

NY

Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York