Asbestos exposure and ovarian fiber burden

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos exposure and ovarian fiber burden, by D.S. Heller, R.E. Gordon, C. Westhoff, et al (American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 1996).

The study

• Authors: D.S. Heller, R.E. Gordon, C. Westhoff, S. Gerber
• Journal: American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• Published: 1996;29(5):435-9
• Cited by: 40 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Epidemiologic studies suggest increased risk of epithelial ovarian cancer in female asbestos workers and increased risk of malignancy in general in household contacts of asbestos workers. Ovaries were studied from 13 women with household contact with men with documented asbestos exposure and from 17 women undergoing incidental oophorectomy. Ovarian tissue was examined by analytic electron microscopy. Significant asbestos fiber burdens were detected in 9 out of 13 women with household asbestos exposure (69.2%), and in 6 out of 17 women who gave no exposure history (35%). Three exposed women had asbestos counts over 1 million fibers per gram wet weight (23%), but only 1/17 women without an exposure history had a count that high (6%). Although asbestos has been documented as a contaminant of some older cosmetic talc preparations, the chrysotile and crocidolite types of asbestos we detected are more indicative of background and/or occupational exposure. This study demonstrates that asbestos can reach the ovary. Although the number of subjects is small, asbestos appears to be present in ovarian tissue more frequently and in higher amounts in women with a documentable exposure history.

In plain English

This study asked whether women exposed to asbestos have high asbestos fiber burdens in their ovaries. The authors analyzed ovarian tissue from 13 women with household contact with asbestos (none worked with it directly) and 17 women reporting no exposure, who had had surgery for benign ovarian tumors. Some exposed women were contacted by postcard with help from a law firm specializing in asbestos claims. Asbestos was found in 9 of the 13 exposed women (69.23%) and 6 of the 17 women reporting no exposure (35%). Counts over 1 million fibers per gram of wet tissue occurred in 3 exposed women (23%) and 1 woman reporting no exposure (6%). Fibers were chrysotile, crocidolite or both, except one case with tremolite. Talc was found in 11 of 13 exposed women and all 17 women reporting no exposure. The authors concluded that asbestos can reach the ovary and appears more often in women with an exposure history. They noted that the number of subjects was small and that the significance of the finding needs further study.

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: Tissue study comparing asbestos fiber burden in ovarian tissue (analyzed by electron microscopy) between women with and without a history of household asbestos exposure
• Who was studied: Thirteen women with household asbestos contact who had previously had ovarian surgery. Eight were recruited by postcard with a law firm's help (surgery 1973-1994), and 5 came from a Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center benign neoplasm study (1992-1993). The comparison group was 17 women from that study with benign ovarian tumors who gave no history of asbestos exposure. Tissue from two stillborn ovaries was also tested.
• Exposure: Household (non-occupational) contact with asbestos-exposed family or household members such as husbands and fathers. None of the women had direct occupational exposure.
• Main results:
  • Exposed women: 9 of 13 (69.23%) had asbestos in ovarian tissue, and 3 (23%) had counts over 1 million fibers per gram wet weight.
  • Women who gave no exposure history: 6 of 17 (35%) had detectable asbestos, and 1 (6%) had a count over 1 million fibers per gram wet weight.
  • Talc was detected in 11 of 13 exposed women (85%) and in all 17 women who gave no exposure history (100%).
  • The fibers found were chrysotile, crocidolite, or both, except in one case where tremolite was seen.
  • Most fibers were longer than 3 micrometres (printed as 'pm' in the scanned text), with a minimum length-to-width ratio of 10.
  • The ovarian tissue showed no tissue reaction to asbestos, such as foreign body giant cell reactions or fibrosis.
  • No asbestos or talc was detected in the stillborn ovarian tissue.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that asbestos can reach the ovary. Although the number of subjects is small, they concluded that asbestos appears to be present in ovarian tissue more frequently and in higher amounts in women with a documented exposure history.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The number of subjects was small.
  • All comparison women came from a group of women with benign ovarian tumors. The authors said further studies would look at women with no ovarian disease.
  • It was unclear why so many women who gave no exposure history had detectable asbestos in their ovaries.
  • The significance of finding talc in most exposed women and in all women giving no exposure history was unclear.
  • The significance of finding asbestos in ovaries requires further investigation.

Topics

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

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Asbestos Exposure, Fiber Burden, Ovarian Cancer, Exposure History, Fibers Per Gram, Cosmetic Talc, Chrysotile, Crocidolite.

Related studies

• Correlation of asbestos fiber burdens in fallopian tubes and ovarian tissue — D.S. Heller, R.E. Gordon, et al. (1999)
• Asbestos fibers in ovarian tissue from Norwegian pulp and paper workers — H. Langseth, B.V. Johansen, et al. (2007)
• Expression of calretinin in human ovary, testis, and ovarian sex cord-stromal tumors — Q.J. Cao, J.G. Jones, et al. (2001)
• A new policy regarding ovarian resection in young women treated for peritoneal carcinomatosis — D. Elias, E. Duchalais, et al. (2013)
• Effects of asbestos fibers on cell division, cell survival, and formation of thioguanine-resistant mutants in Chinese hamster ovary cells — K. Kenne, S. Ljungquist, et al. (1986)
• The global burden and associated factors of ovarian cancer in 1990-2019: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 — S. Zhang, C. Cheng, et al. (2022)

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