Mortality among a sample of chemical company employees.

A general mortality survey was done on a 5% random-start systematic sample (N = 1,666) of present and former white male employees of a Texas chemical plant. The purpose was to determine whether there were any unusual patterns of cause-specific mortality that would require further research with case-control studies. Mortality risks were examined by duration of employment and year of hire as surrogates for more specific exposure data. Among all employees in the sample, there was significant excess mortality due to All Cancer, Ill-Defined Conditions, and All External Causes of Death, and a significant deficit from All Circulatory Diseases. The excess mortality from All Cancer was primarily attributable to excess cancers of the kidney, lung, and pancreas. The excesses for lung and kidney cancer were statistically significant. Those employed for 1 year or more experienced significantly lower mortality from All Causes than those employed for less than 1 year.