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Hodgson, J.T., Jones, R.D. Epidemiology and Medical Statistics Unit, Health and Safety Executive, Bootle, Merseyside, U.K. Arch,

Environ. Health 40: 261-268, 1985. Mortality in 1422 male carbon black pro-

cess workers with at least 12 months exposu- re was recorded from 1947 to 1980. Excess deaths from lung cancer, which were not sta- tistically significant, were observed but interpretation is complicated by the incom- pleteness of data on the populations from two of the five factories studied. The high- est excesses of lung cancer were in the two factories with incomplete data, which also had the lowest measured dust levels (though these were high). Furthermore, the duration of employment of lung cancer decedents was slightly less than for individually matched internal controls. Excess lung cancer after the tenth anniversaries of first exposure was i0 observed, 5.1 expected for the two factories with incomplete data; and ii ob- served, 7.9 expected, for the other three factories.

Urbanization, Industrialization, Smoking and Lung Cancer in Europe, 1955-1974. Ioannidis, P.J., Tzavouri-Ionnaidis, P. Cardiology Department, Hospital for Chest Diseases, Athens; Greece. Med. Law. 4: 409- 424, 1985.

The data available on urbanization (DR), industrialization (IN), and total consump- tion of tobacco per adult (TCT) were asses- sed for their relationship to the age stan- dardized mortality from lung cancer (LCM) in European countries during 1955-1974. The purpose of this study was to determine the possible share of each one of the above variables on both the time static (ot) and time changes (dt) of LCM. UR/ot and IN/or presented a significant (P<0,05) positive relationship to men's LCM/ot and a nonsigni- ficant (NS) one to women's LCM/ot. Both past (1931-1955) and current (1955-1974) TCT/ot presented a questionably positive relation- ship (0.i > P > 0.05) to men's LCM/ot but an NS relationship to the LCM/ot for women. UR/ot and IN/ot presented the same signi- ficantly positive relationship to men's LCM/dt as past or current TCT/ot (P<0.001), but the relationship between each one of these variables to the women's LCM/dt was NS. The association between the average TCT/dt during 1931-1973 to the LCM/dt for each sex was NS. Past and current TCT/dt presented a negative, yet entirely NS rela- tionship to men's LCM/dt. However, women's LCM/dt presented a questionably positive relationship (0.i > P > 0.05) to past TCT/dt and a significant inverse relationship to the current TCT/dt (P < 0.01 or < 0.001). Deducting the biases involved in the TCT variable regarding the actual 'dose' delive-

red per sex, it seems that tobacco smoking exerted an adverse effect on the rise of

LCM for both European men and women during 1955-1974. Further research is necessary to evaluate the role of the UR and IN vari- ables, which would ultimately clarify the actual TCT effect.

Lung Cancer and Natural Radiation in an Ita- lian Province. Forastiere, F., Valesini, S., Arca, M. et al. Osservatorio Epidemiologico Regionale, Via R.R. Garibaldi, 00145 Rome, Italy. Sci. Total. Environ. 45: 519-526, 1985.

The possible association between the geological nature of the soil, as related to radioactivity, and lung cancer occurren- ce has been explored in an Italian province. Lung cancer mortality rates for the period '69-'78, in population 35-74 years old, have been calculated for two areas with different lithological features and radioactivity levels. Direct standardization has been used to take into account p~ssible confounding fac- tors such as age, degree of urbanization and cigarette sales. The area with high back- ground radioactivity levels has higher lung cancer mortality rates in both sexes but the results are not statistically significant.

Occupational Exposure and Lung Cancer Risk. Kvale, G., Bjelke, E., Heuch, I. Institute of Hygiene and Social Medicine, 5016 Hauke- land Sykehus; Norway. Int. J. Cancer 37: 185-193, 1986.

The importance of occupation held long- est as a risk factor for lung cancer was examined in a prospective study in Norway of 11,995 men, among whom 125 cases occur- red in a follow-up from 1966 through 1978. Based on information about occupation held longest, the respondents were classified into 3 groups according to suspected expo- sure to respiratory carcinogens at the work- place. After stratification for age, place of residence and cigarette smoking, we found a highly significant relative risk of 2.6 for those Judged to have experienced definite exposure versus the group with no workplace exposure. The apparent risk-en- hancing effect of occupational exposure was observed for all histologic subtypes. Stra- tification including a socioeconomic factor score led to a moderate reduction in the re- lative risk estimate. High risk estimates still obtained, however, for a limited num- ber of occupations, the highest for workers in the mining and quarrying industries. Al- though the interpretation of the observed effect associated with a crude index of oc- cupational exposure may be difficult, our results suggest that between 13 and 27% of the lung cancer cases observed among Norwe- gian men in the relevant time period can be attributed to harmful work-place exposure.

Lung Neoplasms in Rodents after Chronic Ad