Prostatic cancer and chronic respiratory and renal disease in British cadmium workers: a case control study.

Deaths due to prostatic cancer, renal cancer, bronchitis or emphysema, and nephritis or nephrosis in three cohorts of cadmium workers have been investigated in a case-control study. Evidence of an association of risk for these diseases with intensity and duration of exposure to cadmium was sought. The only clearly statistically significant finding was of an association of deaths coded as bronchitis or emphysema with "high" levels of exposure to cadmium fume, which was related also to duration of exposure. There was suggestive evidence also (p congruent to 0.10) of an increased risk for nephritis or nephrosis after high exposure. Marginally increased risks were observed for prostatic cancer after high or "medium" exposure, but these were not statistically significant.