Mortality from cancer and other causes among Italian chrysotile asbestos miners
Menée en Italie à partir de données portant sur 1 056 employés d'une mine de chrysotile (ou amiante blanc) entre 1930 et 1990, cette étude de cohorte analyse l'évolution de la mortalité par cancer, notamment par cancer de la plèvre et cancer du poumon (période de suivi : 1946-2014 ; 722 décès)
Objective : To investigate the long-term mortality of a cohort of Italian asbestos miners. Methods The cohort included 1056 men employed in a chrysotile mine between 1930 and 1990, who were followed up during 1946–2014, for a total of 37 471 person-years of observation. Expected deaths and SMRs were computed using national and local (after 1980, when available) : reference. Results : A total of 294 (27.8%) subjects were alive and at the end of follow-up, 722 (68.4%) were dead and 40 (3.8%) were lost to follow-up. The SMR for overall mortality was 1.35 (95%CI 1.25 to 1.45). The SMR for pleural cancer, based on seven observed deaths, was 5.54 (95% CI 2.22 to 11.4) and related to time since first exposure, but not to duration of employment, cumulative exposure or time since last exposure. The SMR for lung cancer was 1.16 (95% CI 0.87 to 1.52; 53 observed deaths), with no excess among workers with cumulative exposure below 100 fibre/mL-years (SMR 0.82; 95% CI 0.44 to 1.40). Conclusions : The update of the follow-up of this cohort confirmed an increased mortality from pleural cancer mortality in miners exposed to chrysotile and a lack of significant increase in lung cancer mortality.