LUNG-CANCER AFTER EMPLOYMENT IN SHIPYARDS DURING WORLD-WAR-II

A case–control study, undertaken to identify reasons for the exceptionally high rate of lung cancer among male residents of coastal Georgia, revealed a significantly increased risk associated with employment in area shipyards during World War II. The summary relative-risk estimate, adjusted for smoking, other occupations, age, race and county of residence was 1.6 (95 per cent confidence limits = 1.1 to 2.3). A synergistic relation was found between shipyard employment and cigarette smoking. These findings suggest that asbestos and possibly other shipyard exposures during wartime employment account for part of the excess mortality from lung cancer in certain coastal areas of the United States. (N Engl J (vied 299:620–624, 1978) THE mapping of cancer mortality in the United States according to county, 1950–69, revealed an area along the southeast Atlantic coast where the rates for lung cancer were exceptionally high among white men.12 To identify reasons for the elevated mortality, we conducted a case–control study of lung cancer diagnosed among residents of coastal Georgia. Methods Cases of primary lung cancer among male residents of an 11county coastal area* were identified from three sources: diagnoses since 1970 at the single large hospital in Brunswick; diagnoses during 1975–76 at the three major hospitals in Savannah; and death certificates for the period 1970–74. © 1978, Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved.