Incidence of cancer among nitrate fertilizer workers.

The results are presented from a historical prospective cohort study on the incidence of cancer among 1756 male workers at a nitrate fertilizer plant. Workers employed for 1 year or more between 1947 and 1980 were included in the cohort. Surrogates for individual exposure to nitrogen derivatives and asbestos dust were recorded to identify subgroups. There were 195 cases of cancer observed versus 208.8 expected, as based on the rates among age-adjusted rural Norwegian males. A slight increase in stomach cancer was found: 28 observed versus 19.9 expected.