Mortality Among Ship-breaking Workers—-A Retrospective Cohort Study:

Wu, Wei-Te1; Lin, Yu-Jen2; Yang, Ya-Hui3; Yang, Chun-Yuh4; Hsu, Jin-Huei5; Wu, Trong-Neng1,2,6

Author Information:

1Institute of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan; 2Division of Environmental Health and Occupational Medicine, National Health Research Institutes, Miaoli County, Taiwan; 3Department of Occupational Safety and Hygiene, Fooyin University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; 4Department of Public Health, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; 5Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, Council of Labor Affairs, Taipei, Taiwan; and 6Graduate Institute of Biostatistics, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.

Abstracts published in Epidemiology have been reviewed by the societies at whose meetings the abstracts have been accepted for presentation. These abstracts have not undergone review by the Editorial Board of Epidemiology.

Abstract:

Background/Aims:

Taiwan was ever a shipbreaking kingdom. From the late 1960s to the late 1980s, the port city of Kaohsiung witnessed one of the most thriving ship demolition industries in the world. The OSHA agency stated that ship breaking also posed the following dangers: (1) Exposure of hazardous substances as the demolition sometimes released toxic or explosive substances such as asbestos, PCBs, heavy metals, and waste fuel; (2) hazard work activities; and (3) hazard work condition. Among these, there is a need for long-term follow-up study to examine the health risks of exposure of hazardous substances. Hence, the aim of this study was to study the cause of death and standardized mortality ratios in ship-breaking cohort.

Methods:

The national mortality data during the years from 1985 to 2008 were obtained from the Office of Statistics of the Department of Health in Taiwan. The death record is defined according to the International Classification of Disease, Injury, and Causes of Death (9th revision). Standardized mortality rates (SMR) for various diseases were calculated on the basis of Taiwan standard population mortality.

Results:

The results showed that cause of death of ship-breaking cohort among all cause (SMR = 1.50, 95% CI = 1.41–1.60), cancer (SMR = 1.43, 95% CI = 1.27–1.61), liver cirrhosis (SMR = 10.77, 95% CI = 8.35–13.68), all accidents (SMR = 2.45, 95% CI = 2.09–2.85), and special region cancers as oral and nasopharyngeal (SMR = 2.90, 95% CI = 2.20–3.76), esophagus (SMR = 2.47, 95% CI = 1.44–3.95), liver (SMR = 5.31, 95% CI = 4.12–6.73), and lung (SMR = 1.60, 95% CI = 1.20–2.09) were significantly higher mortality than general Taiwan population.

Conclusion:

The studies are providing the reference of health care policy for alive ship-breaking worker in Taiwan and still precede ship-breaking industry in development countries.

Epidemiology: January 2011 - Volume 22 - Issue 1 - p S110

doi: 10.1097/01.ede.0000392005.94355.21

Abstracts: ISEE 22nd Annual Conference, Seoul, Korea, 28 August-1 September 2010: Occupational and Environmental Cancer

© 2011 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.

Source:

http://journals.lww.com/epidem/Fulltext/2011/01001/Mortality_Among_Ship_breaking_Workers__A.313.aspx