Summary
Within the framework of a longitudinal study, 127 chimney sweeps from the area of Upper and Middle Franconia (Bavaria, Germany), who had participated in a first medical check-up in 1974, were offered follow-up examinations in 1990. Eighty-one subjects participated in these examinations; in addition individual occupational case histories and medical case histories were obtained for a further 15 and 35 chimney sweeps, respectively. Five test subjects had died before the evaluation deadline (August 15, 1990). The causes of death were a non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a bladder carcinoma, pulmonary metastases with unknown primary tumour, a suicide and an acute myocardial infarction. Conspicuous results were carcinoma of the oesophagus in one case and leucoplakia of the mucous membranes in the mouth and pharyngeal region in three cases; furthermore one chimney sweep had two haemorrhagic lumps on his vocal cords. Taking into account important non-occupational hazards (alcohol and nicotine abuse) as possible causes of these changes and the lack of relevant occupational exposure to products of incineration over a number of years, none of these cases nor any of the other ascertained results could be considered likely to be causally related to occupational activities. Due to the small number of cases, an epidemiological risk evaluation did not seem useful. Comparison with the results of other chimney sweep studies published in the international literature is not helpful due to the differences in study design, the varying case frequencies, and the different conditions of exposure.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Angerer J, Schaller KH (eds) (1985, 1988, 1991) Analyses of hazardous substances in biological materials, vols I, II and III. VCH, Weinheim
Angerer J, Schaller KH, Hausmann N (1991) The determination of 1-hydroxypyrene in urine as a tool for the biological monitoring of PAH-exposed persons. Lecture at the 13th Int. Symposium on Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons, Bordeaux, October 1–4, 1991
Bagchi NJ, Zimmerman RE (1980) An industrial hygiene evaluation of chimney sweeping. Am Ind Hyg Assoc J 41:297–299
Cadez E (1983) Ergebnisse langjähriger Untersuchungen über den Einfluß von Schadstoffen auf die Gesundheit von Schornsteinfegern. Staub-Reinhalt Luft 43:116–117
Europäische Schornsteinfegermeister-Föderation (1991) Personal communication
Goßler K, Hofstetter A, Holzhauser KP, Schaller K-H, Valentin H (1975) Über die Exposition von Schornsteinfegern durch Benzo-a-Pyren. In: Bericht über die 15. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Arbeitsmedizin e. V., München, 24–26.4.1975. Gentner, Stuttgart
Grimm H-G, Lorenz M, Haedicke B, Stegmair C (1987) Bösartige Erkrankungen des Respirationstraktes bei den Schornsteinfegern des Saarlandes. ErgoMed 11:68–73
Gustavsson P, Gustavsson A, Hogstedt C (1987) Excess mortality among Swedish chimney sweeps. Br J Ind Med 44:738–743
Gustavsson P, Gustavsson A, Hogstedt C (1988) Excess of cancer in Swedish chimney sweeps. Br J Ind Med 45:777–781
Hansen E, Olsen J, Tilt B (1982) Cancer and non-cancer mortality of chimney sweeps in Copenhagen. Int J Epidemiol 11:356–361
Hansen E (1983) Mortality from cancer and ischemic heart disease in Danish chimney sweeps: a five-year follow-up. Am J Epidemiol 117:160–164
Hogstedt C, Andersson K, Frenning B, Gustavsson A (1982) A cohort study on mortality among long-time employed Swedish chimney sweeps. Scand J Work Environ Health 8:72–78
Holzhauser KP, Schaller K-H (1977) Arbeitsmedizinische Untersuchungen bei Schornsteinfegern. Arbeit und Gesundheit, Medizinische Schriftenreihe des Bundesministeriums für Arbeit und Sozialordnung, Heft 91. Georg Thieme, Stuttgart
Kapfhammer G, Raber W, Vetter N, Teherani D (1990) Ergebnisse von Vorsorgeuntersuchungen bei Rauchfangkehrern. Pneumologie 44:895–897
Knecht U, Bolm-Audorf U, Volk J, Woitowitz H-J (1988) PAH-Luftkonzentrationen beim Schornsteinfegen. In: Bericht über die 28. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Arbeitsmedizin e. V. Innsbruck, 4–7.5.1988. Gentner, Stuttgart
Kupetz G-W (1966) Krebs des Atemtraktes and Schornsteinfegerberuf. Dissertation der Medizinischen Fakultät der Humboldt-Universität Berlin
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Letzel, S., Weber, A., Schaller, K.H. et al. Investigations on health hazards of chimney sweeps in Germany: results of a follow-up study. Int. Arch Occup Environ Heath 64, 43–48 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00625950
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00625950