Authors
Egan-Baum-E; Smith-AB; Albert-DM
Source
Am J Ophthalmol 1982 Nov; 94(5):687-688
Abstract
The results of a case study on the incidence of ocular melanoma among chemical workers were evaluated. The study was prompted by the occurrence of five cases of ocular melanoma among employees of the West Virginia duPont facility. Thirty nine production areas or job titles were identified in which at least one of the patients or comparisons had worked. Odds ratios were computed to estimate the relative risk, of having worked in each production area or job title for the patients versus the comparisons. None of the computed odds ratios were significantly different from one. The authors conclude that the study was unable to identify any specific production area or job title as being associated with the occurrence of ocular melanoma at the facility, beyond that expected from chance. They note several problems with the study. The ability of the study to detect an increased risk of working in a specific production area or job title was small. It was not possible to determine exactly which chemicals the workers were exposed to, and job histories were not sensitive or specific enough to allow identification of increased disease risks associated with chemical exposures.
Keywords
NIOSH-Author; Cancer-rates; Case-studies; Epidemiology; Health-hazards; Risk-analysis; Occupational-diseases; Disease-incidence; Eye-diseases; Chemical-industry-workers
Source Name
American Journal of Ophthalmology
