Skip to main content
PMC home page
Occupational and Environmental Medicine logoLink to Occupational and Environmental Medicine
. 2003 Oct;60(10):722–729. doi: 10.1136/oem.60.10.722

Mortality of employees of a perfluorooctanesulphonyl fluoride manufacturing facility

B Alexander 1, G Olsen 1, J Burris 1, J Mandel 1, J Mandel 1
PMCID: PMC1740403  PMID: 14504359

Abstract

Aim: To evaluate the mortality experience of a cohort of employees of a perfluorooctanesulphonyl fluoride (POSF) based fluorochemical production facility.

Methods: A retrospective cohort mortality study followed all workers with at least one year of cumulative employment at the facility. The jobs held by cohort members were assigned to one of three exposure subgroups; high exposed, low exposed, and non-exposed, based on biological monitoring data for perfluorooctane sulphonate (PFOS).

Results: A total of 145 deaths were identified in the 2083 cohort members. Sixty five deaths occurred among workers ever employed in high exposed jobs. The overall mortality rates for the cohort and the exposure subcohorts were lower than expected in the general population. Two deaths from liver cancer were observed in the workers with at least one year of high or low exposure (standardised mortality ratio (SMR) 3.08, 95% CI 0.37 to 11.10). The risk of death from bladder cancer was increased for the entire cohort (three observed, SMR 4.81, 95% CI 0.99 to 14.06). All three bladder cancers occurred among workers who held a high exposure job (SMR 12.77, 95% CI 2.63 to 37.35). The bladder cancer cases primarily worked in non-production jobs, including maintenance and incinerator and wastewater treatment plant operations.

Conclusion: Workers employed in high exposure jobs had an increased number of deaths from bladder cancer; however it is not clear whether these three cases can be attributed to fluorochemical exposure, an unknown bladder carcinogen encountered during the course of maintenance work, and/or non-occupational exposures. With only three observed cases the possibility of a chance finding cannot be ruled out.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (208.0 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Anton-Culver H., Lee-Feldstein A., Taylor T. H. Occupation and bladder cancer risk. Am J Epidemiol. 1992 Jul 1;136(1):89–94. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a116424. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Biegel L. B., Liu R. C., Hurtt M. E., Cook J. C. Effects of ammonium perfluorooctanoate on Leydig cell function: in vitro, in vivo, and ex vivo studies. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 1995 Sep;134(1):18–25. doi: 10.1006/taap.1995.1164. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Boffetta P., Jourenkova N., Gustavsson P. Cancer risk from occupational and environmental exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Cancer Causes Control. 1997 May;8(3):444–472. doi: 10.1023/a:1018465507029. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bonassi S., Merlo F., Pearce N., Puntoni R. Bladder cancer and occupational exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Int J Cancer. 1989 Oct 15;44(4):648–651. doi: 10.1002/ijc.2910440415. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Case M. T., York R. G., Christian M. S. Rat and rabbit oral developmental toxicology studies with two perfluorinated compounds. Int J Toxicol. 2001 Mar-Apr;20(2):101–109. doi: 10.1080/10915810151115236. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Cattley R. C., DeLuca J., Elcombe C., Fenner-Crisp P., Lake B. G., Marsman D. S., Pastoor T. A., Popp J. A., Robinson D. E., Schwetz B. Do peroxisome proliferating compounds pose a hepatocarcinogenic hazard to humans? Regul Toxicol Pharmacol. 1998 Feb;27(1 Pt 1):47–60. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Giesy J. P., Kannan K. Global distribution of perfluorooctane sulfonate in wildlife. Environ Sci Technol. 2001 Apr 1;35(7):1339–1342. doi: 10.1021/es001834k. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Hansen K. J., Clemen L. A., Ellefson M. E., Johnson H. O. Compound-specific, quantitative characterization of organic fluorochemicals in biological matrices. Environ Sci Technol. 2001 Feb 15;35(4):766–770. doi: 10.1021/es001489z. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Haughom B., Spydevold O. The mechanism underlying the hypolipemic effect of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulphonic acid (PFOSA) and clofibric acid. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1992 Sep 22;1128(1):65–72. doi: 10.1016/0005-2760(92)90258-w. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Hours M., Dananche B., Fevotte J., Bergeret A., Ayzac L., Cardis E., Etard J. F., Pallen C., Roy P., Fabry J. Bladder cancer and occupational exposures. Scand J Work Environ Health. 1994 Oct;20(5):322–330. doi: 10.5271/sjweh.1390. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Luebker Deanna J., Hansen Kris J., Bass Nathan M., Butenhoff John L., Seacat Andrew M. Interactions of fluorochemicals with rat liver fatty acid-binding protein. Toxicology. 2002 Jul 15;176(3):175–185. doi: 10.1016/s0300-483x(02)00081-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Olsen G. W., Burris J. M., Mandel J. H., Zobel L. R. Serum perfluorooctane sulfonate and hepatic and lipid clinical chemistry tests in fluorochemical production employees. J Occup Environ Med. 1999 Sep;41(9):799–806. doi: 10.1097/00043764-199909000-00012. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Porru S., Aulenti V., Donato F., Boffetta P., Fazioli R., Cosciani Cunico S., Alessio L. Bladder cancer and occupation: a case-control study in northern Italy. Occup Environ Med. 1996 Jan;53(1):6–10. doi: 10.1136/oem.53.1.6. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Seacat Andrew M., Thomford Peter J., Hansen Kris J., Olsen Geary W., Case Marvin T., Butenhoff John L. Subchronic toxicity studies on perfluorooctanesulfonate potassium salt in cynomolgus monkeys. Toxicol Sci. 2002 Jul;68(1):249–264. doi: 10.1093/toxsci/68.1.249. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Steineck G., Plato N., Norell S. E., Hogstedt C. Urothelial cancer and some industry-related chemicals: an evaluation of the epidemiologic literature. Am J Ind Med. 1990;17(3):371–391. doi: 10.1002/ajim.4700170310. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Vineis P., Pirastu R. Aromatic amines and cancer. Cancer Causes Control. 1997 May;8(3):346–355. doi: 10.1023/a:1018453104303. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Ward E. M., Burnett C. A., Ruder A., Davis-King K. Industries and cancer. Cancer Causes Control. 1997 May;8(3):356–370. doi: 10.1023/a:1018405321141. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Weiss N. S. Cancer in relation to occupational exposure to perchloroethylene. Cancer Causes Control. 1995 May;6(3):257–266. doi: 10.1007/BF00051797. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Occupational and Environmental Medicine are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES