The Osaka arm of the labor ministry said Wednesday that 16 current and former employees of a printing company are eligible for workers' compensation on the grounds that they contracted bile duct cancer while on the job.

It is the first decision of its kind for this type of illness.

Another 48 people, including former workers at Osaka-based Sanyo-CYP Co. and other people with cancer in Miyagi and Fukuoka prefectures, are seeking compensation because they contracted cancer after being exposed to toxic chemicals at printing companies.