Comparison of jobs, exposures, and mortality risks for short-term and long-term workers.

We compared the jobs, estimates of exposures, and mortality experience of short-term (less than or equal to 1 year) and long-term (greater than 1 year) workers from nine plants producing formaldehyde or formaldehyde products. There were few jobs that were filled solely or primarily by newly hired workers. The estimated median level of formaldehyde exposure experienced by short-term workers on their first job was nearly identical to that for long-term workers, although short-term workers were more likely to be in jobs exposed to particulates than were long-term workers. As duration of employment increased, there was little change in the average estimated exposure level of formaldehyde, but the likelihood of being exposed to particulates decreased. Short-term workers had greater risks than long-term workers of dying from diseases of the circulatory system, arteriosclerotic heart disease, emphysema, diseases of the digestive system, cirrhosis of the liver, motor vehicle accidents, suicide and malignant neoplasms, particularly cancers of the stomach, colon, lung, prostate, and brain.