Survival experience of a cohort of carbon disulphide exposed workers from an eight-year prospective follow-up period.

A cohort of 343 men from a viscose rayon factory in Finland with at least five years of exposure in carbon disulphide (CS2) was followed from 1967 to 1975 with respect to coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality. The exposed cohort had over twofold excess death rate from CHD relative to a matched reference group. Statistical separation of causes other than CHD revealed a difference of two years in the life expectancies of the two populations for the age interval of 25 to 54 years. The coronary mortality had, however, decreased since protective measures were instituted at the plant after the fifth year of follow-up, leaving only one-fifth of the original group exposed and reducing the level of CS2 exposure for them to less than 10 ppm. This trend, although tentative due to the limited experience after the intervention, seems to suggest that the risk of coronary death for the formerly excessively exposed workers can be influenced and lessened to a normal level.