Chapter 7, Problem 50P

The mortality experience of 8146 male employees of a research, engineering, and metal-fabrication plant in Tonawanda, New York, was studied from 1946 to 1981 [2]. Potential workplace exposures included welding fumes, cutting oils, asbestos, organic solvents, and environmental ionizing radiation, as a result of waste disposal during the Manhattan Project of World War II. Comparisons were made for specific causes of death between mortality rates in workers and U.S. white-male mortality rates from 1950 to 1978.

Suppose that 17 deaths from cirrhosis of the liver were observed among workers who were hired prior to 1946 and who had worked in the plant for 10 or more years, whereas 6.3 were expected based on U.S. white-male mortality rates.

A similar analysis was performed among workers who were hired after 1945 and who were employed for 10 or more years. It found 4 deaths from cirrhosis of the liver, whereas only 3.4 were expected. What is the SMR for this group?