Exposure indices for epidemiological surveillance of carcinogenic agents in an industrial chemical environment.

A prospective system for establishing chemical exposure indices was developed and implemented for 22 chemicals used at a Louisville chemical plant. Validation of the indices was done statistically using industry-related cancer (liver angiosarcoma) and worker-matched controls. A rank ordered system for exposures was used to identify a relationship between the occurrence of disease and the presence of a suspect chemical used in the industrial environment.