Within the framework of a research project concerning occupational mortality, attention was drawn to a highly significant standardized mortality ratio for mesothelioma among furniture workers. From information drawn from the mortality records for the years 1979-1985 and from the 1980 national census, the number of pleural mesotheliomas among this occupational group was examined. The expected number of deaths from pleural mesothelioma among Swiss furniture workers for this period was 4.4; the observed number was 12. This finding indicates a 2.7-fold relative risk (P = 0.004) for death due to these cancers among Swiss furniture workers.

Key terms asbestos; furniture worker; high risk; high-risk group; mesothelioma; methology of mortality study; mortality; numerator–denominator bias; pleural mesothelioma; Switzerland; wood dust; wood working