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Biomedical subjects

A C Pesatori

Publications and source records attributed to A C Pesatori.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Mortality of a young population after accidental exposure to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzodioxin.

The mortality experience of 19,637 people aged 1-19 years living in an area around Seveso, Italy, contaminated by 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) after an accidental explosion in a chemical plant was examined for the period 1976-1986. For comparison, the mortality of the population of nearly 100,000 people living in the surrounding districts was examined. People who left the study area were followed up. Vital status ascertainment was successful in over 99% of the cases. A group of 186 children who contracted chloracne, a reversible marker of TCDD intoxication, shortly after the accident were in the study: none of them died during the observation period. Among the exposed, mortality owing to all causes, to all accidents and to all cancers failed to show major departure from expectations. Five leukaemia deaths were observed, four among males and one among females; the corresponding relative risks were 2.1 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.7-6.9), and 2.5 (95% CI: 0.2-27.0), respectively. Two lymphatic leukaemias among males yielded a RR = 9.6 (95% CI: 0.9-106.0). Mortality owing to congenital anomalies showed a nearly twofold increase in the contaminated area; however, five out of seven observed cases were born before the accident. Interpretation is limited by the small number of deaths, short latency period and low validity of death certificate information for certain causes, and by the definition of exposure which was based merely on residence. The follow-up is continuing. A cancer morbidity study is in progress.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Mortality study of cancer risk among oil refinery workers.

The mortality experience of 1595 male workers employed in one of the largest Italian refineries in the period from 1949-1982 was examined. From the comparison with national and local death rates, increases in mortality owing to lung and kidney cancers, brain tumors, and leukemias emerged. No definite trends according to duration of exposure and years since first exposure were apparent. The increases regarding cancer of the lung, kidney and brain appeared to be associated with the early period of operations. Analysis by exposure category suggested an association of the increased mortality from leukemias with working in production (observed = 2; expected = 0.61). Kidney cancer mortality was elevated among maintenance workers (obs. = 2; exp. = 0.18). Small numbers prevented firmer conclusions. Workers in the moving department had a significantly increased mortality from all cancers (obs. = 22; exp. = 11.7), and lung cancer (obs. = 11; exp. = 3.6). Confounding by smoking could be excluded as sufficient explanation of the three-fold increase in lung cancer deaths. It was in moving that highest airborne levels of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons had been discovered in an independent environmental investigation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Ten-year mortality study of the population involved in the Seveso incident in 1976.

In 1976, an accidental explosion in a plant near Seveso, Italy, caused the contamination of a populated area by 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). The area was subdivided into three zones (A, B, and R) having decreasing mean levels of TCDD soil contamination. This study examines the mortality between 1976 and 1986 among the subjects, aged 20-74 years, who were resident in the area since the accident (n = 556 in zone A, n = 3,920 in zone B, n = 26,227 in zone R). Subjects' exposure was classified by residence. A referent cohort of 167,391 subjects who lived in the immediate surroundings was concurrently examined. Vital status ascertainment was successful for over 99% of the subjects. Increased mortality from cardiovascular causes was found; incident-related stressors were considered more relevant to increased mortality than was TCDD exposure. Mortality from several cancers was elevated. The increases in biliary cancer (females), brain cancer, and lymphatic and hemopoietic neoplasms (particularly leukemia in males) did not appear to result from chance, confounding, or information/comparison bias. However, no definite patterns related to exposure classification were apparent. Merely suggestive increases in soft tissue tumors and melanoma were also noted. Liver and breast cancer mortality tended to be below expectations. Interpretation is hampered by the short observation period, small number of deaths from certain causes, and poor exposure definition. Further research is in progress.

Accidents, Occupational↗
PubMed1986

Exposure to formaldehyde and cancer mortality in a cohort of workers producing resins.

The mortality of 1,332 male workers employed at least 30 days in 1959-1980 in a resins-manufacturing plant was examined. Ambient measurements taken in the plant between 1974 and 1979 documented a potential for exposure to levels of formaldehyde as high as greater than 3.0 mg/m3. Vital status was ascertained for 98.6% of the cohort members, and their mortality was compared with expected deaths drawn from the national and local population rates. A statistically significant increase in lung cancer was observed, based on 18 deaths, which was not fully accounted for by possible confounding factors linked to personal habits or sociocultural characteristics. This elevated risk, however, could not be attributed specifically to exposure to formaldehyde. Mortality from digestive cancer (14 deaths observed) and hematologic neoplasms (5 deaths observed) was not substantially higher than expected. The study was limited by information bias due to incomplete work histories, by the small number of deaths from some relevant causes, and by the possibly insufficient length of the observation period. Therefore these results do not provide sufficient grounds either to link formaldehyde exposure in the plant to the increased cancer risk noted or to exclude that formaldehyde might pose such a risk to humans under certain exposure circumstances.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Mortality in an area contaminated by TCDD following an industrial incident.

The mortality experience of the population, aged 20-74 years, living in an area contaminated by TCDD after an industrial accident in 1976, was examined in the period 1976-1986 and compared with the mortality of the population of the surrounding noncontaminated territory. People who left the area during the study period were followed up, and vital status was successfully ascertained for over 99% of the cohort members. An increased mortality, from chronic ischemic heart disease (males) and hypertensive disease (females), which could not be explained in terms of chance, confounding, or bias, was noted in the exposed population. The stressful experience of the population in the aftermath of the disaster was deemed relevant to the interpretation of these findings. Overall, cancer mortality was not increased. Suggestive increases, however, were seen for melanoma, brain cancer, soft tissue sarcomas and certain hematologic neoplasms, whereas mortality from breast cancer and cancer of the liver was noticeably decreased. Further research is in progress in order to thoroughly investigate the association, if any, of cancer occurrence with TCDD contamination.

Accidents, Occupational↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Mortality: various measurements compared].

SMR (Standardized Mortality Ratio) is a useful epidemiological measure but it cannot be computed when person-years distributions (denominators) are not available. In this situation PMR (Proportionate Mortality Ratio) and MOR (Mortality Odds Ratio) represent possible alternatives. Definitions of PMR and MOR are presented, and properties and drawbacks of these measures are discussed in relation to SMR's estimates. Fictitious data representing factual situations are used as working examples.

Algorithms↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[A follow-up study of 304 cases of suspected pathology caused by benzene seen in 1950-71].

A group of 304 subjects admitted to the Institutes of Occupational Health of Milan and Pavia (Italy) between 1951 and 1970 for suspected benzene intoxication were retrieved from hospital records and their mortality experience was examined up to 31 December, 1986. The aims of the study were: 1) to estimate, in quantitative terms, the risk associated with benzene exposure in that area in the time period considered (these risks had already been reported, but merely as case reports); 2) to investigate the possibility of an increased frequency of neoplasms other than leukaemia; and 3) to further investigate the exposure history of these subjects. In the absence of data on the population at risk, mortality was analysed via the mortality odds ratio (MOR) method. A local population mortality experience was used as reference. Twenty-eight malignant neoplasms were observed (MOR = 2.2; 95% confidence interval = 1.3-3.7), 15 of which were haematologic neoplasms (MOR = 13.3; 95% confidence interval = 8.0-22.2). No odds ratio increases were observed for any of the other tumour sites or types. Eleven observed blood diseases represented a large numerical increase in the odds ratio. For all the haematologic neoplasms there had been an estimated exposure to airborne benzene concentrations above 20 ppm. However, no conclusions on dose-response relationships can be drawn from these data because of the approximate evaluation of individual exposure and, especially, because the study group most probably consisted of a highly selected sample of the exposed population.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Benzene↗