Mortality Among Shipyard Workers in Genoa, Italy

Abstract

The dockyards of Genoa are exposed to many known or suspect carcinogenic agents, namely, asbestos, silica, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and halogenated hydrocarbons; other possibly harmful substances are trace amounts of aromatic amines, welding smokes, paints, and lipid-removing solvents. A cohort study of causes of death of 2190 dockyard workers in Genoa was conducted between January 1, 1960 and December 31, 1975. Mortality rates were calculated for 20 different occupational categories, for which there exist different levels of exposure to noxious substances. Two control groups were selected: the general male population of Genoa and all male employees (462) of San Martino Hospital, Genoa for the same period of time. Causes of death that demonstrated significant excesses for both control groups were: cancer of the colon, excluding the rectum; cancer of the larynx; cancer of the lung, bronchus, and trachea; cancer of the kidney, urinary bladder, and other urinary organs; respiratory diseases; and cirrhosis of the liver. The data obtained from these 20 job categories revealed different types and levels of risk for various carcinogenic agents.

Incidence of cancer among welders and other workers in a Norwegian shipyard.

“…The demonstration of an increased incidence of lung cancer in several occupational categories at the shipyard is in accordance with the results of other investigations (9,17,18,20,21). However, the results from these studies are inconsistent as to which occupational groups had an excess of asbestos-related cancers, probably due to diverse routines for asbestos handling or possibly to methodological shortcomings.…”

“…The magnitude of the excess was higher than that reported in some epidemiologic studies on shipyard employees (9,17,20), while other authors have demonstrated an approximately twofold risk of lung cancer for shipyard workers (19,21,22).…”

“…The welders were all shipyard workers who had mainly welded mild steel. The recognized excess of lung cancer in the shipbuilding industr y is generally att ribut ed to asbestos exposure (9,(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22). Hence it was con sidered important to include contemporary workers at the ship yard , not onl y for a po ssibilit y to study their incidence of cancer as such, but also to serve as internal reference groups for the welder s.…”

Immunotoxicology of arc welding fume: Worker and experimental animal studies

“…Since a similar mortality pattern was found in other metal fume-exposed workers such as molders and coremakers, Coggon et al concluded that the primary causative agent could be the metallic fume components or possibly O 3 or NO. Studies from the US associating increased mortality from pneumonia due to welding fume exposure are few, but most support an increased risk in welders of pneumonias other than bronchopneumonia (Puntoni et al, 1979;Beaumont and Weiss, 1980;Polednak, 1981;McMillan and Pethybridge, 1983;Milham, 1983;Newhouse et al, 1985).…”

Cancer risk of arc welders exposed to fumes containing chromium and nickel.

“…besides several completed occupational studies (2,5,6,7,10,13,18,22,23,24,26,27), other investigations are under way (19) concerning shipyard workers with correspondingly high cohort figures 2 (Finland, England), as well as concerning arc welders exposed to nickel and chromium fumes (US) but not exposed to asbestos, as can be expected in shipyards. In the meantime, a protocol has been worked out by the World Health Organization (Regional Office for Europe) which is recommended as a basis for planning future prospective studies.…”