Asbestos burden in two cases of mesothelioma where the work history included manufacturing of cigarette filters

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos burden in two cases of mesothelioma where the work history included manufacturing of cigarette filters, by R.F. Dodson, M.G. Williams, J.D. Satterley (Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health. Part a, 2002).

The study

• Authors: R.F. Dodson, M.G. Williams, J.D. Satterley
• Journal: Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health. Part a
• Published: 2002;65(16):1109-20
• Type of article: Case report
• Cited by: 4 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Asbestos has been used in many applications, but possibly one of the more unique was in the manufacturing of filters for cigarettes. The type of asbestos used in this application was crocidolite. Data from several resources indicate that crocidolite was one of the least utilized types of commercial asbestos in the United States. The present study provides quantitative tissue burden analysis data for two mesothelioma cases where the work histories included manufacturing of cigarette filters that contained crocidolite. The data include the number of asbestos bodies and uncoated fibers per gram of tissue, as well as the dimensions of these structures. The conclusion of the findings indicates that the individuals had an appreciable homogeneous exposure to crocidolite asbestos.

In plain English

This article reported two cases. Both men died of pleural mesothelioma and had worked at a facility in Louisville, Kentucky, that made cigarette filters containing crocidolite asbestos. The second man worked there from 1951 until his retirement in 1983. The authors described the first man's exposure there as relatively short. The authors digested lung tissue. They counted asbestos (ferruginous) bodies by light microscopy and identified uncoated fibers by electron microscopy. In case 1, the left lung contained 105,582 and the right lung 185,057 ferruginous bodies per gram of dry tissue. In case 2, the counts were 8075 (left) and 9906 (right). In case 1's left lung, 98 of the first 100 fibers analyzed were crocidolite, at 71,127,051 uncoated asbestos fibers per gram dry weight. In the right lung, 96 of 100 were crocidolite. In case 2, 83 of 98 fibers (left) and 74 of 84 (right) were crocidolite. Case 2's left lung held 2,945,990 fibers per gram dry weight. In case 1, 91.8% of uncoated crocidolite fibers were too thin to be likely seen by phase-contrast light microscopy. The authors concluded that even case 1's relatively short exposure was a high exposure.

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: Case reports of two men, with laboratory analysis of asbestos bodies and uncoated fibers in lung tissue
• Who was studied: Two men who died of pleural mesothelioma and had worked making asbestos-containing cigarette filters at a facility in Louisville, Kentucky
• Exposure: Crocidolite asbestos used in cigarette filters. Case 2 worked at the filter facility from 1951 until his retirement in 1983, as a machine operator and mechanic. The authors describe case 1's exposure at the facility as relatively short.
• Main results:
  • Case 1, left lung: 105,582 ferruginous bodies per gram dry weight (16,315 per gram wet weight)
  • Case 1, right lung: 185,057 ferruginous bodies per gram dry weight (27,753 per gram wet weight)
  • Case 2, left lung: 8075 ferruginous bodies per gram dry weight (1299 per gram wet weight)
  • Case 2, right lung: 9906 ferruginous bodies per gram dry weight (1577 per gram wet weight)
  • Case 1, left lung: of the first 100 fibers analyzed, 98 were crocidolite and one was amosite
  • Case 1, left lung: 71,127,051 uncoated asbestos fibers per gram dry weight (10,990,840 per gram wet)
  • Case 1, right lung: 96 of the first 100 fibers analyzed were crocidolite
  • Case 1, both lungs: 91.8% of uncoated crocidolite fibers were thinner than 0.25 µm, so detection by phase-contrast light microscopy would have been unlikely
  • Case 2, left lung: 83 of 98 fibers analyzed were crocidolite
  • Case 2, left lung: 2,945,990 asbestos fibers per gram dry weight (474,926 per gram wet)
  • Case 2, right lung: 74 of 84 fibers analyzed were crocidolite, plus 1 anthophyllite asbestos fiber
  • Case 2, right lung: all ferruginous bodies found by electron microscopy had crocidolite cores
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that, based on the very high concentrations of crocidolite-cored asbestos bodies and uncoated crocidolite fibers, even case 1's relatively short exposure at the filter manufacturing facility was a high exposure.

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Crocidolite, Mesothelioma.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Mesothelioma, Work History, Crocidolite, Asbestos Bodies, Fibers Per Gram.

Related studies

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• Were asbestos-filtered Kent cigarettes sold in Australia? — S. Chapman, A. Heidemann, et al. (1996)
• Asbestos lung burden and asbestosis after occupational and environmental exposure in an asbestos cement manufacturing area: a necropsy study — C. Magnani, F. Mollo, et al. (1998)
• Pleural mesothelioma in a woman whose documented past exposure to asbestos was from smoking asbestos-containing filtered cigarettes: the comparative value of analytical transmission electron microscopic analysis of lung and lymph-node tissue — R.F. Dodson, S.P. Hammar (2006)
• Mesothelioma in manufacturers of asbestos-containing cigarette filters — J. Talcott, W. Thurber, et al. (1987)
• Testimony by otolaryngologists in defense of tobacco companies 2009-2014 — R.K. Jackler (2015)

Browse more research in Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health. Part a, or return to medical research.