Oil Refinery and Petrochemical Workers

A study of Finnish oil refinery workers who were employed in a chemical products manufacturing plant for at least 5 years were found to have significant excesses of kidney cancer, non-Hodgkin s lymphoma, and non-melanocytic skin cancer. These workers were exposed to a large number of lipophilic and hydrophilic chemicals. [60l These and their Kqw values were 

A study of Australian petroleum industry workers showed significantly increased incidences of the following cancers  

Though only asbestos was specifically named in the study, it can be reasonably anticipated that these workers were also exposed to a large number of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, PAHs, and heavy metals. The authors of the study attributed the mesotheliomas to asbestos exposure. The other cancers were not specifically attributed to causative chemicals. I61l 

A cohort mortality study of petrochemical workers in Texas found an increased incidence of malignant brain tumors in workers who worked in a plant that used numerous lipophilic and hydrophilic chemicals and manufactured 43 refined chemicals, four major classifications of resins, four industrial gases, and a mixture of straight chain hydrocarbons J62l The cause of the observed cancers was not determined. 

The findings of these three studies are of interest when considered together. Workers in all three of the studies were exposed to many of the same chemicals, yet different cancers were reported in all three. These studies point out the effects of subtly different chemical mixtures as cancer-causing agents and lend credence to the hypothesis that each specific mixture has a cancer-causing etiology of its own. 

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