Asbestos: a chronology of its origins and health effects

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos: a chronology of its origins and health effects, by M. Huncharek (British Journal of Industrial Medicine, 1990).

The study

• Author: M. Huncharek
• Journal: British Journal of Industrial Medicine
• Published: 1990;47(12):845-6
• Type of article: Comment, Letter
• Cited by: 3 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text
• In J-M's library: Johns-Manville's company medical library held a copy (J-M no. 001604).

In plain English

This was a letter to the editor, not a research study. It contains no new data. The author wrote in response to an article by Murray (1990;47:361-5) on the health effects of asbestos. The author disagreed with two parts of Murray's article: how it read the historical evidence on what was known about asbestos and cancer, and its views on asbestos use in developing countries. The author said they had worked as a consultant on the property damage case Corporation of Mercer University v National Gypsum Co and had reviewed internal asbestos industry documents. Citing Brodeur's book, the author stated that the industry actively suppressed industry-sponsored research showing that breathing asbestos fibres was a serious health risk. The author also warned that asbestos water pipes are often made on site in Third World countries and compared this with tobacco production there. The author concluded that, as with asbestos, the ultimate cost of such policies in deaths and illness could not be appreciated without considering their long-term effects. A reply from Murray followed, but the text breaks off partway through 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 (correspondence) responding to a published article; no original research
• Exposure: Asbestos in general; asbestos (asbestos cement) water pipes in developing countries
• Main results:
  • The author disagreed with Murray's assessment of asbestos use in developing countries and with Murray's interpretation of the historical evidence.
  • As a consultant on Corporation of Mercer University v National Gypsum Co, the author reviewed internal asbestos industry documents on industry health research.
  • The author stated that the asbestos industry actively suppressed the release of industry-sponsored research showing that inhaling asbestos fibres was a serious health risk.
  • The author stated that asbestos water pipes are often manufactured on site in Third World countries.
  • The author warned that, without proper regulation, the Third World may in several decades see an increase in asbestos-related deaths like the one in the United States.
  • The author compared this with tobacco, stating that Third World countries account for about 60% of world tobacco production.
  • In a reply, Murray restated that during the war there was no knowledge of lung cancer or mesothelioma attributable to asbestos.
  • In the same reply, Murray reported having recently seen two model asbestos cement factories, one in Thailand and one in Nigeria.
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that, as with asbestos, the ultimate human cost of such policies in deaths and illness cannot be appreciated without considering their long-term effects.

Related studies

• Asbestos: a chronology of its origins and health effects — R. Murray (1990)
• Asbestos: a chronology of its origins and health effects — L. Arblaster, E. Renvoize, et al. (1990)
• Global corporate policies and international "double standards" in occupational and environmental health — B. Castleman (1999)
• Transfer of occupational health problems from a developed to a developing country: lessons from the Japan-South Korea experience — J. Park, N. Hisanaga, et al. (2009)
• The origins of public concern with taconite and human health: Reserve Mining and the asbestos case — M.E. Berndt, W.C. Brice (2008)
• The asbestos war — L. Kazan-Allen (2003)

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