Ontario Miners and Asbestos Cement Workers Mortality Study

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Theme
Organizations
Description of project
Years
Number of records or individuals for the cohort
Main investigator(s)
Project coordination
Project numbers
Publications

Theme

Occupation – Miners – Asbestos – Cement Factory – Ontario

Organization(s)

Ontario Ministry of Labour
Ontario Workers’ Compensation Board
Atomic Energy Control Board

Description of project

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the health risks associated with the mining industry and workers from a specific asbestos cement factory. An extension to earlier studies investigated occupational hazards of miners and other high-risk groups, plus updated and evaluated the accuracy of the mortality searches. Part of this study was used to develop methods to improve the accuracy and completeness of the death searches.

Years

Death years:
1955 – 1977^a,c
1978 – 1981^b (uranium miners only)
1950 – 1986^d

Number of records or individuals for the cohort

56,622 men^a - 30,000 men used for the evaluation study^c
16,842 men (uranium miners only)^b
90,774 (both sexes)^d - 89,243 men; 1,201 women; 330 not stated.

Main investigator(s)

Dr. J. Muller,^a Ontario Ministry of Labour
Dr. Jane F. Gentleman,^a University of Waterloo;
Wilf Wheeler,^a George Suranyi,^a and Bob Holden,^b Ontario Workers’ Compensation Board
Dr. V. Elaguppillai,^c Atomic Energy Control Board
R. Kusiak,^d Ontario Ministry of Labour

Project coordination

Martha Fair^a,b,c and Pierre Lalonde,^d Occupational and Environmental Health Research Section, Health Statistics Division, Statistics Canada

Project number(s)

1900-027;^a 1985-008;^b 1987-003;^c 1990-002^d

Publications

Muller J, Wheeler WC. Causes of death in Ontario uranium miners. In: Radiation Protection in Mining and Milling of Uranium and Thorium: Proceedings of an International Symposium; 1974 September 8-11; Bordeaux, France. Organized by the International Labour Office and the French Atomic Energy Commission in cooperation with the World Health Organization and the International Atomic Energy Commission. Geneva: International Labour Office; 1976. p. 29-42.

Ham JM. Report of the Royal Commission on the Health and Safety of Workers in Mines. Toronto: Ministry of the Attorney General, Province of Ontario; 1976.

Muller J, Wheeler WC, Gentleman JF, Suranyi G, Kusiak R, Smith ME. The Ontario miners’ mortality study: A general outline progress report. In: Gomez M, editor. Radiation Hazards in Mining: Control, Measurements and Medical Aspects. Proceedings of the International Conference; 1981 October 4-9; Golden, Colorado. New York: Society of Mining Engineers of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (AIMMPE); 1981. p. 359-362.

McCracken WJ. Radon gas, bronchogenic carcinoma – Ontario experience. In: Gomez M, editor. Radiation Hazards in Mining: Control, Measurements and Medical Aspects. Proceedings of the International Conference; 1981 October 4-9; Golden, Colorado. New York: Society of Mining Engineers of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (AIMMPE); 1981. p. 819-822.

Finkelstein MM. Mortality among long-term employees of an Ontario asbestos-cement factory. British Journal of Industrial Medicine 1983; 40(2): 138-140.

Muller J, Wheeler WC, Gentleman JF, Suranyi G, Kusiak RA. Study of Mortality of Ontario Miners, 1955-1977. Part 1. Toronto: Ontario Ministry of Labour; 1983 May.

Dupré J, Mustard JF, Uffen RJ. Report of the Royal Commission on Matters of Health and Safety Arising from the Use of Asbestos in Ontario Vol. 1-3. Toronto: Ministry of the Attorney General, Province of Ontario; 1984.

Finkelstein MM. Mortality among employees of an Ontario asbestos-cement factory. American Review of Respiratory Disease 1984; 129(5): 754-761.

Muller J, Wheeler WC, Gentleman JF, Suranyi G, Kusiak R. Study of mortality of Ontario miners. In: Stocker H, editor. Occupational Radiation Safety in Mining: Proceedings of the International Conference, Vol. 1; 1985 October 14-18. Toronto: Canadian Nuclear Association; 1985. p. 335-343.

Muller J, Kusiak RA, Suranyi G, Ritchie AC. Study of Mortality of Ontario Gold Miners, 1955-1977. Part II. Toronto: Ontario Ministry of Labour; 1986 July.

Muller J, Kusiak RA, Suranyi G, Ritchie AC. Study of Mortality of Ontario Gold Miners, 1955-1977. Part II. Addendum. Toronto: Ontario Ministry of Labour; 1987 Feb.

Industrial Disease Standards Panel. Report to the Workers’ Compensation Board on the Ontario Gold Mining Industry. Toronto: Industrial Disease Standards Panel; 1987 April. IDSP Report No.: 1.

Muller J, Kusiak RA. Modifying Factors in Lung Cancer Risk of Ontario Uranium Miners, 1955-1981. Toronto: Health Studies Service, Ontario Ministry of Labour, 1987 Oct.

Miller AB, Scarpelli D, Weiss N. Report of the scientific panel on “Mortality from Cancer Among Ontario Gold Miners, 1955-1977”. Appendix C in: Report to the Workers’ Compensation Board on the Ontario Gold Mining Industry. Toronto: Industrial Disease Standards Panel; 1987 April. IDSP Report No.: 1.

Fair ME, Newcombe HB, Lalonde P, Poliquin C. “Alive” Searches as Complementing Death Searches in the Epidemiological Follow-up of Ontario Miners. Ottawa: Atomic Energy Control Board; 1988. Report No.: INFO–0266.

Fair ME, Newcombe HB, Lalonde P. Improved Mortality Searches for Ontario Miners using Social Insurance Number Index Identifiers. Ottawa: Atomic Energy Control Board; 1988. Report No.: INFO–0264.

Committee on Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation (BEIR IV), Board on Radiation Effects Research, Commission on Life Sciences, National Research Council. Health Effects of Radon and Other Internally Deposited Alpha-emitters BEIR IV. Washington DC: National Academy Press; 1988.

Industrial Disease Standards Panel. Report to the Workers’ Compensation Board on the Ontario uranium mining industry. Toronto: Industrial Disease Standards Panel; 1989 Feb. IDSP Report No.: 6.

Kusiak RA, Sprin ger J, Ritchie AC, Muller J. Carcinoma of the lung in Ontario gold miners: possible aetiological factors. British Journal of Industrial Medicine 1991; 48(12); 808-817.

Kusiak RA, Springer J, Ritchie AC, Muller J. Lung cancer mortality in Ontario gold miners. Chronic Diseases in Canada (Suppl) 1992 Nov-Dec; 13(1): S23-S26.

Kusiak RA, Ritchie AC, Springer J, Muller J. Mortality from stomach cancer in Ontario miners. British Journal of Industrial Medicine 1993; 50(2); 117-126.

Kusiak RA, Ritchie AC, Muller J, Springer J. Mortality from lung cancer in Ontario uranium miners. British Journal of Industrial Medicine 1993; 50(10): 920-928.

Industrial Disease Standards Panel (Occupational Disease Panel). Report to the Workers’ Compensation Board on Lung Cancer in the Hardrock Mining Industry. Toronto: Industrial Disease Standards Panel; 1994 Mar. IDSP Report No.: 12.

Lubin JH, Boice JD, Edling C, Hornung RW, Howe GR, Kunz E, et al. Radon and Lung Cancer Risk: A Joint Analysis of 11 Underground Miners Studies. Washington DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health; 1994. NIH Pub No.: 94-3644.

Darby SC, Whitley E, Howe GR, Hutchings SJ, Kusiak RA, Lubin JH, Morrison HI, Tirmarche M, Tomasek L, Radford EP, et al. Radon and cancers other than lung cancer in underground miners: a collaborative analysis of 11 studies. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 1995; 87(5): 378-384.

Industrial Disease Standards Panel. Addendum to IDSP Report No. 12: Report to the Workers’ Compensation Board on Lung Cancer in Hardrock Mining Industry. Toronto: Industrial Disease Standards Panel; 1996 Sept. IDSP Report No.: 12A.

Lubin JH, Tomasek L, Edling C, Hornung RW, Howe GR, Kunz E, Kusiak RA, Morrison HI, Radford EP, Samet JM, Tirmarche M, Woodward A, Yao SZ. Estimating lung cancer mortality from residential radon using data for low exposures of miners. Radiation Research 1997; 147(2): 126-134.

Kusiak R, Ashmore P, Baris D. Do occupational exposures in nuclear refineries contribute to mortality from brain cancer? Occupational and Environmental Medicine 1997; 54(2):142-143.

Committee on Health Risks of Exposure to Radon, Board on Radiation Effects Research, Commission on Life Sciences, National Research Council. Health Effects of Exposure to Radon: BEIR VI. Washington DC, National Academy Press, 1999.