Trends in cancer mortality among workers in the synthetic polymers industry.

A high risk of death from liver HSA has been documented from past exposures to VC. Similar to other carcinogens, the risk of VC-induced liver HSA appears to increase as the second or third power of time from onset of exposure. It is possible to project future mortality using this power relationship, estimates of VC exposure, and observed mortality to 1980. These projections suggest that 200-600 deaths may occur in the United States and 550-2,800 in Western Europe from liver HSA. These projections also suggest that a 1 ppm standard in the VC industry will go far to protecting workers from future malignant disease.