Incidence of cardiovascular diseases in the Dutch viscose rayon industry.

An investigation was made into the incidence of cardiovascular diseases in the Dutch viscose rayon industry. The first part of the article discusses a further study, complementary to a pilot study conducted in 1974, into the distribution of cardiovascular cases among the various departments of a rayon plant. No differences in the frequency of cardiovascular cases in departments with and departments without CS2 were observed. The second part deals with a case-control study in which the total number of patients per plant was matched with comparable individuals not suffering from cardiovascular disease. Here, too, it was not possible to demonstrate a significant correlation between CS2 exposure and cardiovascular diseases. The third part describes a cohort study. Three cohorts were formed: (1) a cohort of shift workers exposed to CS2; (2) a cohort of shift workers not exposed to CS2; and, (3) a cohort of non-shift workers not exposed to CS2. With a three-year interval, these cohorts were examined twice for cardiovascular diseases, with reference to a checklist of 39 variables. Again, no significant differences between the cohorts could be shown to exist.