Asbestos: a chronology of its origins and health effects

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos: a chronology of its origins and health effects, by L. Arblaster, E. Renvoize, P. Hatton, et al (British Journal of Industrial Medicine, 1990).

The study

• Authors: L. Arblaster, E. Renvoize, P. Hatton, M. Schweiger
• Journal: British Journal of Industrial Medicine
• Published: 1990;47(11):790
• Type of article: Historical article, Letter
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text
• In J-M's library: Johns-Manville's company medical library held a copy (J-M no. 003778).

In plain English

This item was a letter to the editor, not a research study. Responding to Murray's article on the history of asbestos, the authors described early work by Leeds doctors. They reported that Dr Ian M D Grieve, a Leeds general practitioner in the 1920s, saw patients from a local factory that made insulation mattresses for steam engines from blue asbestos, which had been used there since 1906. Grieve's 1927 Edinburgh MD thesis described 15 cases of asbestosis, including one woman who had died and whose postmortem material was available. In nine of the 15 cases he found no evidence of tuberculosis. A pathologist, Stuart McDonald, reported fibrosis without apparent tuberculosis in Grieve's case. In 1929 Grieve's senior partner, Dr A C Haddow, cited a case in which the "curious bodies" were found in a man who did not work in the industry but lived next door to an asbestos factory. The authors stated that Grieve's case would predate the case of Seiler that Murray mentioned. They said they had completed the first part of a study of mesothelioma deaths in Leeds, but the letter gave no results from it.

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: Letter to the editor giving a historical account of early medical work on asbestosis in Leeds
• Who was studied: Early Leeds doctors (Grieve, Haddow, Stewart, Tattersall) and the 15 asbestosis cases Grieve described in his 1927 MD thesis
• Exposure: Work at a Leeds (Armley) factory producing insulation mattresses for steam engines made from blue asbestos, in use at the factory from 1906
• Main results:
  • Grieve submitted an MD thesis on asbestosis to Edinburgh University in 1927
  • Among Grieve's 15 cases was one woman who had died, for whom postmortem material was available
  • In 9 of Grieve's 15 cases he was unable to find evidence of tuberculosis
  • Professor Stuart McDonald, commenting on Grieve's case, reported a considerable degree of fibrosis without apparent tuberculosis
  • Haddow in 1929 quoted a case in which the bodies were found in a man not employed in the industry who lived next door to an asbestos factory
  • The contribution of the Leeds doctors was acknowledged by E R A Merewether in his 1930 report
• The authors' conclusion: The authors stated that Grieve's case would predate the case of Seiler referred to by Murray

Topics

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

Related studies

• Asbestos: a chronology of its origins and health effects — R. Murray (1990)
• Asbestos: a chronology of its origins and health effects — M. Huncharek (1990)
• Chronology of asbestos cancer discoveries: experimental studies of the Saranac Laboratory — G.W. Schepers (1995)
• The origins of public concern with taconite and human health: Reserve Mining and the asbestos case — M.E. Berndt, W.C. Brice (2008)
• A review of scientific literature examining the mining history, geology, mineralogy, and amphibole asbestos health effects of the Rainy Creek igneous complex, Libby, Montana, USA — B.R. Bandli, M.E. Gunter (2006)
• Occupational health: the intersection between clinical medicine and public health — L. Rosenstock, P.J. Landrigan (1986)

Browse more research in British Journal of Industrial Medicine, or return to medical research.