Table 2. Standardised mortality ratios (SMR) for all asbestos removal workers in the survey and for those included in the analysis (1971–2005).

	All removal workers		Analysed workers
	Deaths	SMR	Deaths	SMR
Cause of death	(95% CI)		(95% CI)
All causes	3165	122.9**	985	111.3**
	(118.7–127.3)		(104.4–118.4)
All MN	1274	173.1**	384	169.2**
	(163.7–182.9)		(152.7–187.0)
MN of lip, oral cavity and pharynx	19	94.0	6	83.7
	(56.6–146.9)		(30.7–182.2)
MN of oesophagus	42	88.2	16	104.2
	(63.5–119.2)		(59.6–169.2)
MN of stomach	49	133.7	18	176.4*
	(98.9–176.8)		(104.5–278.8)
MN of colon	62	127.9	17	119.2
	(98.1–163.9)		(69.4–190.9)
MN of rectum	43	169.0**	15	207.1*
	(122.3–227.6)		(115.9–341.5)
MN of liver (primary)	20	126.6	9	167.8
	(77.3–195.5)		(76.7–318.6)
MN of larynx	17	212.3**	8	322.9**
	(123.6–339.8)		(139.4–636.1)
MN trachea, bronchus & lung	393	200.5**	115	215.6**
	(181.2–221.4)		(178.0–258.7)
MN of peritoneum	38	4568.9**	12	4367.8**
	(3233.2–6271.2)		(2257.0–7629.8)
MN of pleura	35	1149.3**	10	1332.8**
	(800.5–1598.4)		(639.1–2451.1)
Mesotheliomaa	69	808.2**	23	808.2**
	(628.8–1022.8)		(512.3–1212.7)
MN of ovary	0	—	0	—
	(0.0–533.0)		(0.0–7092.9)
MN of kidney	29	160.1*	13	229.0*
	(107.2–229.9)		(121.9–391.6)
MN of bladder	18	94.2	3	61.6
	(55.8–148.8)		(12.7–180.2)
MN of lymphatic and haematopoietic tissue	80	103.9	24	86.2
	(82.4–129.3)		(55.2–128.2)
Circulatory disease	981	114.0**	258	102.0
	(107.0–121.4)		(89.9–115.2)
Ischaemic heart disease	665	113.3**	171	102.4
	(104.9–122.3)		(87.7–119.0)
Cerebrovascular disease	147	125.0*	41	118.3
	(105.6–146.9)		(84.9–160.5)
Respiratory disease	222	128.0**	44	88.8
	(111.7–146.0)		(64.5–119.2)
Asbestosisb	22	5753.4**	3	3849.6**
	(3605.6–8710.7)		(794.3–11249.8)

CI=confidence interval.

^*Significant at P⩽0.05; ^**significant at P⩽0.01.

^aICD-10, post-2001.

^bAsbestosis determined by underlying cause of death.