TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2016//
TI  - Mustard gas exposure and mortality among retired workers at a poisonous gas factory in Japan: a 57-year follow-up cohort study
JO  - Occupational and environmental medicine
A1  - Mukaida, Kenichi
A1  - Hattori, Noboru
A1  - Iwamoto, Hiroshi
A1  - Onari, Yojiro
A1  - Nishimura, Yoshifumi
A1  - Kondoh, Keiichi
A1  - Akita, Tomoyuki
A1  - Tanaka, Junko
A1  - Kohno, Nobuoki
SP  - 321
EP  - 327
VL  - 74
IS  - 5
N2  - OBJECTIVES: Mustard gas (MG) has been the most widely used chemical warfare agent in the past century. However, few but conflicting data exist on the effects of MG exposure on long-term mortality. We investigated MG-related mortality in retired workers at a poisonous gas factory. <br><br>METHODS: We assessed mortality rates among 2392 male and 1226 female workers, whose vital status could be determined through 31 December 2009, at a poisonous gas factory operating from 1929 to 1945 in Okuno-jima, Japan. The analysis employed standardised mortality ratios (SMRs) calculated using national and prefectural references and a Cox proportional hazard regression model. Applying the Kaplan-Meier method, we compared cumulative death rates in the study cohort stratified by an 'Okuno-jima MG Index' which represented the product of HRs derived for job category and length of service. <br><br>RESULTS: Among male workers, we found significant excesses in mortality from upper respiratory tract cancer (SMR 3.06), liver cancer (1.67), lung cancer (2.01) and chronic bronchitis/emphysema (4.84) compared with the national population, as well as stomach cancer (1.20) versus the Hiroshima Prefecture population. When stratified into 3 subgroups by the Okuno-jima MG Index, those with a higher Okuno-jima MG Index had significantly higher cumulative rates of death from respiratory cancer and chronic bronchitis/emphysema. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: MG exposure significantly increases the long-term risk of death from respiratory cancer and chronic bronchitis/emphysema. The Okuno-jima MG Index may be a useful indicator for estimating cumulative MG exposure.<br><br>Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1351-0711
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/oemed-2015-103437
ID  - ref1
ER  -