Asbestos and cancer 1934-1965: and what happened thereafter?

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos and cancer 1934-1965: and what happened thereafter?, by Y. Lerman (American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 1992).

The study

• Author: Y. Lerman
• Journal: American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• Published: 1992;22(3):455-6
• Type of article: Historical article
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This was a short commentary, not a research study, written in response to P. E. Enterline's 1991 historical review of opinions on asbestos and cancer from 1934 to 1965. It reported no new data. The author asked what happened after the 1964 consensus that asbestos causes lung cancer. The author wrote that the accepted workplace limit in the late 1960s was 12 fibers/cm3, well above a safe level for a carcinogen. It was lowered to 2 fibers/cm3 in Israel and other countries only in the mid 1970s, which was still fourfold or more above what the author called an appropriate level at the time of writing. The author noted that Japan's standard was still 5 fibers/cm3 in the late 1980s. Citing other work, the author added that asbestos use rose in many countries. The author described a U.S. Court of Appeals decision striking down the EPA's 1989 rule that would have banned nearly all asbestos uses by 1996. Citing earlier work, the author said man-made mineral fibers may be even more potent than asbestos for chronic lung disease. The author concluded that asbestos would remain part of scientific debate in the 1990s.

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: Commentary (opinion piece) responding to a published historical review; no original data
• Who was studied: No study population; the commentary discusses Enterline's 1991 historical review and asbestos regulation in Israel, the United States, Japan and other countries
• Exposure: Asbestos in general, discussed through permitted workplace exposure limits (T.L.V.-T.W.A.) in fibers/cm3, asbestos use restrictions and bans, and man-made mineral fibers as substitutes
• Main results:
  • The author stated that in the late 1960s the accepted workplace limit was 12 fibers/cm3, which the author described as well above a safe level of exposure to a carcinogen
  • The author stated that only in the mid 1970s was the standard lowered, in Israel and other countries, to 2 fibers/cm3, a level fourfold or more above what was considered appropriate at the time of writing
  • The author stated that Japan's standard was still 5 fibers/cm3 in the late 1980s
  • Citing Woitowitz et al. (1981), the author stated that asbestos use rose in many countries and dust control developed only gradually
  • The author reported that the U.S. Court of Appeals struck down the EPA's 1989 rule, which would have banned nearly all uses of asbestos in the United States by 1996
  • Citing Goldsmith (1986), the author stated that man-made mineral fibers, once suggested as substitutes for asbestos, may be even more potent than asbestos with regard to chronic pulmonary disease
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that, although Enterline's review said the issue appeared settled in 1965, asbestos exposure and its related diseases would remain part of scientific thought and debate in the 1990s

Topics

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

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