Long-Term Health Experience of Jet Engine Manufacturing Workers

Abstract

To determine whether glioblastoma (GB) incidence rates among jet engine manufacturing workers were associated with workplace experiences with specific parts produced and processes performed. Subjects were 210,784 workers employed between 1952 and 2001. We conducted nested case-control and cohort incidence studies with focus on 277 GB cases. We estimated time experienced with 16 part families, 4 process categories, and 32 concurrent part-process combinations with 20 or more GB cases. In both the cohort and case-control studies, none of the part families, process categories, or both considered was associated with increased GB risk. If not due to chance alone, the not statistically significantly elevated GB rates in the North Haven plant may reflect external occupational factors or nonoccupational factors unmeasured in the current evaluation.