Mortality in a German Cohort of Asphalt Workers with Potential Bitumen Exposure

Fumes from heated bitumen have been associated with various types of cancer, including cancer of the lung. However, epidemiological studies conducted so far yielded only equivocal results with respect to an increased risk of cancer. To investigate the mortality of bitumen workers, the International Agency for Research on Cancer assembled an international study group investigating a cohort of workers employed in the asphalt industry. Here we report the results of the mortality follow-up of the German cohort until December 1998. Cause of mortality was determined by death certificates. Based on company information, subjects were classified to be exposed to bitumen (N = 2,535), to bitumen and (potentially) coal tar (N = 832), and neither to tar nor to bitumen (N = 2,737). 1,873 workers were classified to have unknown exposure. Standardized mortality ratios (SMR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated, based on age- and period-specific reference data for the West German male population. In internal ...