Lung cancer mortality among residents living near the El Paso smelter.

Occupational exposure to arsenic has been associated with cancer of the lung, but epidemiological studies of cancer of the lung and environmental exposure to arsenic have produced conflicting results. Case-control studies about point sources of pollution have been useful in identifying environmental hazards. This technique was used to evaluate the risk for lung cancer near a smelter in El Paso, Texas, that uses an arsenic-containing ore and has been in continuous operation since 1887. A comparison of 575 cases of lung cancer with 1490 breast and prostate controls collected from 1944 to 1973 found no significant associations with distance using 2-km concentric circles out to 20 km from the smelter.