Asbestos and cancer: history and public policy

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos and cancer: history and public policy, by M.P. Weller (British Journal of Industrial Medicine, 1993).

The study

• Author: M.P. Weller
• Journal: British Journal of Industrial Medicine
• Published: 1993;50(7):671
• Type of article: Historical article, Letter
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

In plain English

This was a letter to the editor, not a research study. It traced what was known about asbestos and disease, and how manufacturers responded. It cited an 1898 report by women inspectors of factories describing asbestos fibres as injurious, and Auribault's report of numerous deaths in a French asbestos spinning and weaving mill between 1890 and 1895. It stated that by 1938 British, United States and German government departments and the International Labour Office acknowledged the need to control and suppress asbestos dust. It said abstracts by Gloyne (1943, 1944) linked asbestos with pleural cancer as well as lung cancer, and that Doll confirmed the lung cancer link epidemiologically in Britain in 1955. It quoted a 1970 senate report stating that 20 000 of 50 000 insulation workers were likely to die of asbestosis, lung cancer, or mesothelioma. Citing Brodeur (1985) and Castleman (1990), the author wrote that manufacturers apparently sponsored research and then suppressed publication of unfavourable results. It separately quoted Huncharek (1990) as writing that asbestos industry leaders conspired to misinform the public and scientific community.

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) giving a historical account; not a research study
• Who was studied: No study population. The letter discussed historical publications, government bodies and asbestos manufacturers in Britain, France, Germany and the United States from the 1890s to 1990.
• Exposure: Asbestos dust in general. No fibre type was named. Workplaces mentioned included a French asbestos spinning and weaving mill and insulation work.
• Main results:
  • The letter cited an 1898 annual report of women inspectors of factories that described asbestos fibres and their injurious effects.
  • The letter cited Auribault's report of numerous deaths in a French asbestos spinning and weaving mill between 1890 and 1895.
  • The letter stated that by 1938 government departments in Britain, the United States and Germany, and the International Labour Office, acknowledged the need to control and suppress asbestos dust.
  • The letter stated that abstracts by Gloyne (1943, 1944) linked asbestos with pleural cancer as well as lung cancer. It said these were reprinted in the Industrial Hygiene Digest, which was circulated to Johns-Manville and other asbestos companies.
  • The letter stated that by 1945 the Chief Inspector of Factories had acknowledged the links between lung cancer and asbestos.
  • The letter stated that Doll confirmed the lung cancer link epidemiologically in Britain in 1955, and that manufacturers still chose not to publish relevant data after this.
  • The letter quoted a 1970 senate report on the Occupational Safety and Health act. The report stated that 20 000 out of 50 000 workers who had entered insulation work were likely to die of asbestosis, lung cancer, or mesothelioma.
  • The letter quoted the appeal judges in Borel v Fiberboard et al (1973) as criticising manufacturers for not testing the effect of their products on workers.
  • The letter separately quoted Huncharek (1990), who wrote that, in the light of information from legal discovery in asbestos lawsuits, leaders of the asbestos industry conspired to misinform the public and the scientific community about the dangers of asbestos.
• The authors' conclusion: The author wrote that it would seem manufacturers' behaviour was worse than not researching the hazard: they actually sponsored research and then suppressed publication of the unfavourable outcome. The author cited Brodeur (1985) and Castleman (1990) for this view.

Related studies

• Asbestos and cancer: history and public policy — J.C. Kelso (1992)
• Asbestos and cancer: history and public policy — M. Greenberg (1993)
• Asbestos and cancer: history and public policy — W.K. Morgan (1992)
• Asbestos and cancer: history and public policy — M.P. Weller (1992)
• Asbestos and cancer: history and public policy — B.I. Castleman (1991)
• Asbestos: scientific developments and implications for public policy — B.T. Mossman, J. Bignon, et al. (1990)

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