ILO Home
Go to the home page
Site map | Contact us Français | Español

CISDOC database

Document ID (ISN)41498
CIS number 84-499
ISSN - Serial title 0003-9896 - Archives of Environmental Health
Year 1982
Convention or series no.
Author(s) Welch K., Higgins I., Oh M., Burchfiel C.
Title Arsenic exposure, smoking, and respiratory cancer in copper smelter workers
Bibliographic information Nov.-Dec. 1982, Vol.37, No.6, p.325-335. 12 ref.
Abstract The vital status of 1800 men from an original cohort of over 8000 copper smelter workers who, in 1969, had shown a 3-fold excess of respiratory cancer was determined. There was a clear dose-response relationship between arsenic exposure and respiratory cancer mortality. Men exposed to ≥5000µg/m3 had a 7-fold excess. Ceiling As exposure seemed to be more important than TWA exposure. Sulfur dioxide and asbestos did not seem to be implicated. Smoking was less important than As exposure, nor was there evidence of an interaction. The problems of estimating As exposure are discussed.
Descriptors (primary) arsenic; smoking; non-ferrous metal industries; lung cancer; smelting plants; mortality
Descriptors (secondary) copper; dose-response relationship; epidemiologic study
Document type D - Periodical articles
Subject(s) Occupational pathology
Broad subject area(s)
Browse category(ies) Diseases of the respiratory system (except for pneumoconiosis & similar)
Smoking
Smelting and refining operations
Arsenic and compounds
Inorganic substances