Mortality of UK tin miners 1941 to 1986

The mortality of 2059 underground tin miners and 476 surface workers was analysed for the period 1941 to 1986. Exposures are estimated to be about 10 WLM per year throughout the period relevant to the observed mortality, that is, from 1920 to 1970. The SMR (% excess mortality for silico-TB and silicosis) for lung cancer shows a consistent relationship with duration of underground exposure, rising from 83 (O/E 8/9.6) for surface workers to 447 (O/E = 15/3.4) for workers with more than 30 years underground exposure. The excess risk of lung cancer due to radon exposure predicted by the best fit model of these data is broadly comparable to that given in the BEIR IV report: for lifetime exposures, they are about 40% lower than the BEIR IV estimates. (author)