title: Mortality of short-term workers in two international cohorts.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to compare the pattern of mortality of blue-collar workers employed less and more than 1 year in the man-made vitreous fiber (MMVF) and the reinforced plastic industries, the latter group being exposed to styrene. We conducted an analysis among 21,784 workers with less than 1 year of employment (short-term workers) and 19,117 workers with 1 or more years of employment (long-term workers) employed in eight European countries. We conducted analyses based on external as well as internal comparisons. In both cohorts, the standardized mortality ratio for all causes among short-term workers was approximately 40% higher, compared with that for longer-term workers. In internal comparisons, the difference was reduced to 9% in the MMVF cohort and 11% in the styrene cohort. Workers with less than 1 month of employment displayed an increased mortality in both cohorts and in most countries. The increased mortality among short-term workers was not concentrated shortly after they quit employment. In both cohorts, short-term workers had a higher mortality from external causes, while little difference was seen in mortality from ischemic heart disease and malignant neoplasms. Although extra-occupational factors may contribute to increase the mortality of short-term workers and, in particular, of those employed for less than 1 month, the difference observed in analyses adjusted for characteristics of employment suggested a relatively small difference in mortality from most causes.
authors.affiliation: International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Boffetta
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sali
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kolstad
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Coggon
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Olsen
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Andersen
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Spence
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Pesatori
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lynge
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Frentzel-Beyme
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chang-Claude
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lundberg
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Biocca
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gennaro
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Teppo
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Partanen
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Welp
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Saracci
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kogevinas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002423:Cause of Death; D002617:Chemical Industry; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019016:Mineral Fibers; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000401:mortality*; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D010969:Plastics; D020058:Styrene; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D019016:Mineral Fibers; D010969:Plastics; D020058:Styrene