Survey of mortality among employees engaged in the manufacture of styrene and polystyrene at the BASF Ludwigshafen works.

Abstract

A mortality survey of 1,960 employees currently or previously exposed to styrene at work has shown that the observed number of deaths from cancer or other causes is no higher than the number expected in the German population or in a group of BASF employees. Analyses of deaths occurring after a minimum period of five years in groups exposed for different durations (5 years, 10 years, 15 years, more than 15 years) indicated no increase in mortality with exposure time. This latter observation also applied to malignant tumors; therefore it may be inferred that prolonged exposure to styrene is not a cancer hazard.