A retrospective cohort study of cancer mortality in employees of a Russian chrysotile asbestos mine and mills: study rationale and key features

Our plain-English summary of A retrospective cohort study of cancer mortality in employees of a Russian chrysotile asbestos mine and mills: study rationale and key features, by J. Schüz, S.J. Schonfeld, H. Kromhout, et al (Cancer Epidemiology, 2013).

The study

• Authors: J. Schüz, S.J. Schonfeld, H. Kromhout, K. Straif, S.V. Kashanskiy, E.V. Kovalevskiy, I.V. Bukhtiyarov, V. McCormack
• Journal: Cancer Epidemiology
• Published: 2013;37(4):440-5
• Cited by: 18 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Chrysotile, a serpentine asbestos fibre, is the only type of asbestos produced and consumed in the world today. It is an established human carcinogen. We have begun fieldwork on a retrospective cohort study of employees of one of the world's largest chrysotile mine and mills, situated in Asbest, Russia. The primary aim of the study is to better characterize and quantify the risk of cancer mortality in terms of (i) the dose-response relationship of exposure with risk; (ii) the range of cancer sites affected, including female-specific cancers; and (iii) effects of duration of exposure and latency periods. This information will expand our understanding of the scale of the impending cancer burden due to chrysotile, including if chrysotile use ceased worldwide forthwith. Herein we describe the scientific rationale for conducting this study and the main features of its study design.

Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

In plain English

This article described the reasons for, and the planned design of, a retrospective cohort study that had just begun. It reported no study results. The study will follow employees of JSC Uralasbest, a chrysotile asbestos mine and its processing mills in Asbest, Sverdlovsk Region, Russia, who worked there for at least one year during 1975–2010. The authors expected at least 30,000 workers, at least one-fifth of them women. The authors described the mine's amphibole content as low. The overall aim is to measure more precisely how total and site-specific cancer death risks relate to the amount of chrysotile exposure, including cancers specific to women such as ovarian cancer. Work histories will be linked to dust measurements made since the early 1950s. Fibre counts exist only for June 1995. The main analyses will compare higher- and lower-exposed workers within the cohort. The authors noted limitations. Smoking data are limited, the primary analyses will follow workers only while they stay in the Sverdlovsk region, and statistical power will be reduced at older ages. The authors concluded that the study is needed even if chrysotile exposure ended worldwide.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Study rationale and design paper for a planned retrospective cohort study of cancer mortality (no results reported); main analyses to be internal comparisons of higher versus lower exposure groups
• Who was studied: Employees of JSC Uralasbest's chrysotile mine, processing mills, auto-transport department, production-control laboratory and explosives unit in Asbest, Sverdlovsk Region, Russia, employed at least one year during 1975–2010; expected at least 30,000 workers, at least one-fifth women
• Exposure: Chrysotile asbestos from the Asbest mine and mills (amphibole content described as low), to be estimated from work histories linked to monthly gravimetric dust measurements made since the early 1950s, converted to fibre concentrations using parallel dust and fibre measurements
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the study is still needed even if chrysotile exposure ended worldwide, because the asbestos-related cancer burden would continue for about half a century
• Limitations the authors state:
  • Smoking data are limited
  • Fibre concentration data are fewer and restricted to measurements from June 1995 in the mine and factories 4 and 6
  • Only sparse dust measurements are available for 1923 to 1949
  • In primary analyses, follow-up covers cohort members only while they remain in the Sverdlovsk region; the authors will investigate whether follow-up can be extended beyond the region in secondary analyses
  • Competing causes of death will reduce statistical power at old ages
  • Possible healthy worker survivor effect in workers already employed in 1975
  • Only limited information exists on other lung carcinogens such as silica and diesel exhaust

Mines named here

Asbestos mines this study is about. Each mine's page says who ran it, when it worked, and what it produced.

• Bajenova district, Bajenova district, about 90 km northeast of Sverdlovsk, Russia

All asbestos mines

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Chrysotile.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Cohort Study, Chrysotile, Serpentine Group, Dose-response relationship, Latency.

Related studies

• Occupational cohort study of current and former workers exposed to chrysotile in mine and processing facilities in Asbest, the Russian Federation: Cohort profile of the Asbest Chrysotile Cohort study — J. Schüz, I. Bukhtiyarov, et al. (2020)
• A comparison of parallel dust and fibre measurements of airborne chrysotile asbestos in a large mine and processing factories in the Russian Federation — E. Feletto, S.J. Schonfeld, et al. (2017)
• Cancer mortality in chrysotile miners and millers, Russian Federation: main results (Asbest Chrysotile Cohort-Study) — J. Schüz, E. Kovalevskiy, et al. (2024)
• Tobacco smoking among chrysotile asbestos workers in Asbest in the Russian Federation — A. Olsson, E.V. Kovalevskiy, et al. (2020)
• Comparison of Two Information Sources for Cause-of-Death Follow-up in the Russian Federation: The Asbest Chrysotile Cohort Study — J. Schüz, E. Kovalevskiy, et al. (2020)
• Developing a company-specific job exposure matrix for the Asbest Chrysotile Cohort Study — E. Feletto, E.V. Kovalevskiy, et al. (2022)

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