title: Mortality and cancer incidence of workers in Finnish road paving companies.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study, a component of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) Multicentric Study on Cancer Risk Among European Asphalt Workers, aimed at identifying major mortality risks among workers in Finnish road paving companies.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Finnish cohort was comprised of 9,643 men and women from six road paving companies. The mortality of men employed during at least one season (5,676) was followed up from 1964 until end of 1994; an average of 17 years. Standardized mortality ratios (SMR) and relative risks (RR), the latter based on multivariate Poisson regression models were estimated by occupational group and by various metrics of occupational exposures.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All-cause mortality was elevated (SMR 1.11, 95% confidence interval, CI 1.03-1.20), mainly due to excesses in accidents, poisonings, and violence (1.29; CI 1.12-1.49), and lung cancer (1.38; 1.03-1.81). Workers exposed to bitumen fumes had a slightly elevated mortality from lung cancer (1.16; 0.69-1.83). Multivariate Poisson regression models with 15-year lag period suggested trends by cumulative exposure to coal tar, organic vapors, silica dust, diesel exhaust, and bitumen fume.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The elevated mortality from external causes among Finnish building/ground construction workers was probably due to living conditions and related lifestyles. Some evidence was found for a risk of lung cancer due to occupational exposure, but the confirmation of these findings would require a longer follow-up and improved control for confounding.
authors.affiliation: Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Helsinki, Finland. tkau@occuphealth.fi
authors.forename: Timo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kauppinen
authors.forename: Pirjo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Heikkilä
authors.forename: Timo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Partanen
authors.forename: Simo V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Virtanen
authors.forename: Eero
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pukkala
authors.forename: Pekka
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ylöstalo
authors.forename: Igor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Burstyn
authors.forename: Gilles
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ferro
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Boffetta
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000328:Adult; D002423:Cause of Death; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D006838:Hydrocarbons; D015994:Incidence; D019570:Inhalation Exposure; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality; D016012:Poisson Distribution; D018570:Risk Assessment
chemical_list: D006838:Hydrocarbons; C006647:asphalt