A Statistical Study of the Cause of Death of Automobile Drivers with particular reference to malignant tumors
1977 Volume 31 Issue 6 Pages 652-656
Details
1977 Volume 31 Issue 6 Pages 652-656
The automobile traffic in Osaka City, Japan, is extremely heavy in recent years. According to an estimate by the administrative organization in 1970, the hydrocarbon output by automobiles in Osaka City (205.6km2) reached 49, 786 tons per year. Therefore, there is a risk of automobile drivers being severely contaminated with air pollutants. A statistical study was therefore made of the cause of deaths of automobile drivers residing in Osaka City during the period of 1963-1967, and also in 1970. Selected as controls were people engaged in other occupations in the same city during the period of 1965-1967. The followings were found by the study.
1) Of a total of 353 deaths, excluding those from accidents, poisoning and suicide, malignant neoplasms accounted for 33.4%, while the neoplasms accounted for 28.3% of the deaths of the control subjects.
2) The classification of the rates of deaths according to the sites of malignant neoplasms disclosed that the death rate from malignant neoplasms of the lymphatic and hematopoietic systems of automobile drivers was 1.6 times as high as that in the control group, and the death rate from lung and liver cancers in automobile drivers was 1.5 times as high as the counterparts in the control.
3) The classification by age disclosed that malignant neoplasms of the lymphatic and hematopoietic systems accounted for a high rate in those under thirty, lung cancer for a high rate in the 40's, and liver cancer also for a high rate in the 40's and the 50's, as compared with their counterparts in the control: thus, there was a tendency for the predilected site to vary according to age group.
4) The classification by the type of occupation showed that the death rate from malignant neoplasms was high in truck drivers and taxi drivers.
5) The noticeable death cause besides malignant tumors was liver disease, the death rate from which was 1.3 times as high as that in the control group.
6) These results emphasize the need for a more intensive research on the etiological factors.
