AIMS To evaluate the mortality experience of 1484 men employed in seven uranium mills in the Colorado Plateau for at least one year on or after 1 January 1940. METHODS Vital status was updated through 1998, and life table analyses were conducted. RESULTS Mortality from all causes and all cancers was less than expected based on US mortality rates. A statistically significant increase in non-...

sthma and other idiosyncratic respiratory diseases have become an increasingly important component of the occupational lung disease burden in the United States and other developed countries as more cases are recognized and the pneumoconioses come under control (see Mao, “Cornpensation for Occupational Asthma in Quebec, “ this issue). Unfortunately, control of occupational asthma cannot be achie...

BACKGROUND Gold mineworkers in South Africa are exposed to high levels of silica dust as a result of which they are at risk of developing silicosis, which is a compensable disease. The incidence of tuberculosis is also high. METHODS To determine the prevalence of occupational lung disease and the previous compensation history in former migrant mineworkers, a study was undertaken in a random s...

Lack of knowledge of the exact contents of the materials and improper handling of the toxic chemicals lead to the occurrence of occupational illnesses in the developing countries. However, the incidence of occupational diseases was usually underestimated. This article presents the profile of occupational diseases in Taiwan from two sources, i.e. occupational disease benefit payments of labor in...

This surveillance report examines trends in selected pneumoconioses in the U.S. for 1968–2005 and their relationship with past indicators of extent of exposure. Numbers of deaths with asbestosis, silicosis, and coal workers’ pneumoconiosis (CWP) were tabulated by time and age at death. Worker monitoring CWP prevalence data were tabulated by tenure group. Information on indicators of extent and ...

The pneumoconioses are associated with chronic inflammatory processes during which increased amounts of reactive oxygen species are formed in the lower respiratory tract. To characterize the effect(s) of these processes on the defense system against free radicals, we studied 91 individuals with long-term occupational exposure to coal mine dust. Thirty-one subjects were classified with radiologi...

Leukotrienes (LTs) are involved in the pathogenesis of lung fibrosis and were increased in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) of the patients with pneumoconiosis. However the possible influence of extra-pulmonary disorders on the EBC markers is not known. Therefore in parallel with EBC, LTs' levels in the plasma and urine were measured in patients with pneumoconiosis (45 × asbestos exposure, 37 × ...

Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) is assumed to reflect processes in the lungs, yet it is unknown whether oxidative stress markers in EBC are affected by systemic disorders (atherosclerosis, hypertension, diabetes) or whether lung diseases increase markers in plasma and urine. 8-isoprostane, 4-hydroxy-trans-2-nonenale (HNE) and malondialdehyde (MDA) were measured using liquid chromatography-elect...

In 1953 a new syndrome was described in which the association of rheumatoid arthritis with nodular fibrosis of the lung parenchyma was noted (Caplan, 1953). Though this condition resembles progressive massive fibrosis in some ways, there are certain distinctive features. The opacities that are found in Caplan's syndrome are usually more peripherally situated, tend to be multiple, and more commo...

Sandblasting denim using silica has emerged as a new cause of silicosis in Turkey. Following the discovery of several cases of silicosis in (young) workers who used this process, the frequency and main occupational risk factors of silicosis among former denim sandblasters in the region of Erzurum (Turkey) were evaluated. Demographic characteristics and information on working conditions were obt...