[Cohort mortality study of dust exposed miners in iron mine].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the main diseases jeopardizing the health of the iron miners and to explore the relationship between dust exposure and malignancies as well as other diseases.


METHODS
A retrospective study with a cohort of 7,469 workers employed between January 1, 1972 and December 31, 1974 in Daye Iron Ore Mine Co. in Hubei Province was conducted. Standardized mortality ratio (SMR) was calculated for the main causes of death using Chinese national mortality rates for reference.


RESULTS
All subjects were followed up through December 31, 2003 with an accumulation of 199, 108.0 person years. A total of 1,752 workers died. The cumulative mortality was 23.5%. The cancers, cerebrovascular diseases, non-malignant respiratory diseases and cardiovascular diseases were main diseases that threatened workers' life span. The SMR for all subjects was a little higher than expected based on the Chinese national mortality rates. The diseases causing the significantly higher death rate were the nasopharynx cancer, liver cancer, lung cancer, pneumoconiosis and accident with SMR 1.84, 1.51, 1.83, 14.94 and 1.25 respectively. Increased mortality was observed among dust-exposed workers in the cohort. The cumulative mortality from all causes such as stomach cancer, lung cancer, nonmalignant respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases and accident in dust exposed workers were significantly increased compared with those in non-exposure workers with RR 1.35, 1.83, 1.61, 2.27, 1.34 and 1.69 respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
The risk factors especially dust exposure affect the health and lifespan of the iron mine workers.
Su
Liang-ping
LP
Hospital of Wugang Daye Iron Mine Co. Huangshi, Hubei Province 435009, China.
Guan
Hong-yu
HY
Zhao
Li-fan
LF
Zhang
Jian-min
JM
Chen
Wei-hong
WH
D000328:Adult; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000401:mortality; D002423:Cause of Death; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004391:Dust; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008906:Mining; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality*; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000401:mortality; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D020521:Stroke / Q000401:mortality
D004391:Dust; D007501:Iron