ORMS-CONCLUSIONS

1. All cause mortality rates were similar to national rates, which is unusual in a study of an occupational group. Death rates in occupational groups are usually lower because national rates include people who cannot work because of health problems. One possible explanation is the large proportion of male workers who were hired at young ages during the war years and who worked only for a short amount of time. These workers may have been transient workers not eligible for the draft because of poor health, or they may have been subjected to more hazardous working conditions because of the war effort.

2. Monthly paid workers had substantially lower mortality than weekly or hourly workers.( See Table IV , V , VI and VII)

3. Mortality rates were higher for workers employed for less than one year.

4. Mortality differences between workforces at these facilities may be due to differences in exposure to internal and/or external radiation; other non-radiation exposures; or residual confounding due to other socioeconomic factors.

5. Dose-response results for all cancers derived from this study are compatible with those found in other studies. (see Comparison With Results From Recent Studies)

6. Results of the analyses using the adjusted doses suggest that the effect of missing dose is an upward bias in dose-response coefficients. (See Effect of ''Missing Dose" on Analyses ). Future studies should use all available data for dose estimation.

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Last Modified 3Jul97 FromeEL@ornl.gov(touches: 136487 )