Mortality of coke-plant workers: leukaemia and cancer at sites other than the lung.

This paper summarizes some recent results from an ongoing study of the mortality of coke production workers being carried out at the Institute of Occupational Medicine with support from Coal Products Ltd., British Steel plc and the European Coal and Steel Community. The study was begun in 1970 at the request of National Smokeless Fuels Ltd (NSF), now known as Coal Products, and the British Steel Corporation (BSC), now known as British Steel. The NSF cohort consisted of 3883 male manual workers employed by the company on 1 January 1967. The BSC cohort was defined slightly differently: it consisted of 2790 male manual workers continuously employed in coke departments of steel plants from 1 January 1966 to 31 July 1967. A second phase of analysis, examining mortality over a 20-year period, has now been completed. The principal aim was to establish more precisely the work-related excess of lung cancer. A secondary objective was to investigate whether mortality from any other cause was related to coke-plant work. This paper focuses on mortality from cancers at sites other than the lung, including leukaemia. Analysis produced no convincing evidence that mortality from leukaemia and cancer at sites other that the lung is related to coke oven emissions. 7 refs., 1 tab.