Mortality from malignant diseases—update of the Baltimore union poultry cohort

Abstract

We previously studied mortality up to 1989 in 2,639 members of a local union who had ever worked in poultry slaughtering and processing plants, because they were exposed to oncogenic viruses present in poultry. In this report, cancer mortality was updated to the year 2003 for 2,580 of the 2,639 subjects who worked exclusively in poultry plants. Mortality in poultry workers was compared with that in the US general population through the estimation of proportional mortality and standardized mortality ratios separately for each race/sex group and for the whole cohort. Compared to the US general population, an excess of cancers of the buccal and nasal cavities and pharynx (base of the tongue, palate and other unspecified mouth, tonsil and oropharynx, nasal cavity/middle ear/accessory sinus), esophagus, recto-sigmoid/rectum/anus, liver and intrabiliary system, myelofibrosis, lymphoid leukemia and multiple myeloma was observed in particular subgroups or in the entire poultry cohort. We hypothesize that oncogenic viruses present in poultry, and exposure to fumes, are candidates for an etiologic role to explain the excess occurrence of at least some of these cancers in the poultry workers. Larger studies which can control for confounding factors are urgently needed to determine the significance of these findings.

Update of cancer and non‐cancer mortality in the Missouri poultry cohort

“…For cancers that were significantly in excess in other studies of poultry workers [Fritschi et al, 2003;Johnson et al, 1986bJohnson et al, , 1997Johnson et al, , 2010a,c], but not in this one, the SMRs for cervix and brain/meninges/other nervous system were also elevated in the present study. For eight other cancer sites occurring in excess in any of these other cohorts (palate/other unspecified mouth, tonsil/oropharynx, other ill-defined oropharynx, nasal cavity/middle ear/accessory sinuses, esophagus, penis, lymphoid leukemia, and monocytic leukemia), zero or one death each was observed in the present study.…”

“…The SMR for breast cancer was depressed, SMR ¼ 63. The remaining cancers listed in Table II are those that were significantly elevated in either of our two other cohort studies, or in both of them [Johnson et al, 1986b[Johnson et al, , 1997[Johnson et al, , 2010a. Among non-cancer outcomes, significantly elevated SMRs were observed for benign neoplasms of the lip, oral cavity, pharynx, and other digestive system (ICD 210-211, SMR ¼ 3,111); certain zoonotic bacterial diseases (ICD 020-027, SMR ¼ 8,610); disorders of the thyroid gland (ICD 240-246, SMR ¼ 751); and schizophrenic disorders (ICD 295, SMR ¼ 1,626; Table II).…”

“…Cohort mortality studies of persons who worked in poultry slaughtering and processing plants have investigated the long-term effects of exposure to these agents in humans [Johnson et al, 1986a[Johnson et al, ,b, 1997[Johnson et al, , 2010aJohnson, 1987aJohnson, ,b, 1989Fritschi et al, 2003;Netto and Johnson, 2003]. The current study reported here is an update of mortality (cancer and non-cancer) in a cohort of workers in a poultry union in Missouri (Local 410A), which we had previously studied for mortality between 1969 and 1990, during which time 459 deaths were recorded [Netto and Johnson, 2003].…”

Mortality in the Baltimore union poultry cohort: non-malignant diseases

“…Further follow-up might throw better light on these Wndings. It is interesting that it appears that non-malignant disease of the esophagus may be occurring in excess in the poultry cohort, since an excess of cancer of the esophagus was also observed in the cohort as well (Johnson et al 2009), suggesting that the cancer may have been preceded by a premalignant lesion.…”

Formation of micronuclei and other nuclear anomalies in exfoliated nasal and oral cells: Results of a human study with workers in a power plant processing poultry litter

“…A number of studies show that individuals which are employed at animal farms have increased mortality rates and suffer from diseases that are considered to be caused by inhalation of the aforementioned chemicals and microorganisms (for review see Johnson et al, 2010). The most frequent disorders are found in the respiratory tract and comprise dysfunctions of the lungs such as asthma, the chronic dust toxic syndrome, byssinosis, bronchitis (Attene-Ramos et al, 2007;Donham et al, 2002;Hagmar et al, 1990;Pirie et al, 2003) and inflammations of upper respiratory epithelia (Douwes et al, 2000;Liebers et al, 2006;Madsen, 2006;Pirie et al, 2003).…”