Mortality in the US rayon industry.

A retrospective cohort study was undertaken of the mortality of men exposed to carbon disulfide in the US rayon industry. The cohort consisted of 10,418 men employed between 1957 and 1979. Deaths to mid-1983 were ascertained by the Social Security Administration and the National Death Index. Total mortality in the group was slightly lower than that of the comparable US population. There was no significant difference in overall mortality between the 4,448 employees who had held jobs with the greatest potential for exposure to carbon disulfide and the 3,311 workers who had no exposure. However, there was an excess of deaths from arteriosclerotic heart disease among the potentially most heavily exposed (242 deaths observed, 195.6 expected). An excess of deaths from suicide (29 observed, 18.8 expected) was seen in only one of the four plants.