An earlier, relatively small case-referent study has shown an increased risk for glassworks employees to die from stomac h cancer, lung cancer, a nd cardiovascular disorders. This observa tion suggested an extend ed study virtu ally covering the entire glass-producing indu stry of Sweden. Th is new stud y confi rmed the earlier results and , furthermore, an excess risk for colon cancer was also identified. No deviation was found in the cancer mort alit y pattern for all men in the

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... g area compared to the whole of Sweden . The grouping of glassworks employees according to type of metal cons umption at the glasswo rks showed the excess risks of stomach cancer, colon ca ncer, a nd cardi ovascular deaths to relat e to glasswor ks with a high consumption of lead, a rsenic, ant imon y, a nd manganese. Ho wever, the strong correlat ion of these vario us metal exposures did not permit any successful sepa ration of th e effects of the different metals. For cardiovascular mortality, as for cancer , the glassblowers especially suffered from increased risk. The ir exposure might , to a great extent, be oral, involving the glassblower' s pipe as a "vector" for the expo sure to various metals.