Asbestos exposure to coke oven operators

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos exposure to coke oven operators, by I.J. Selikoff, E.C. Hammond (Journal of Occupational Medicine., 1971).

The study

• Authors: I.J. Selikoff, E.C. Hammond
• Journal: Journal of Occupational Medicine.
• Published: 1971;13(10):496-7
• Cited by: 4 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher
• In J-M's library: Johns-Manville's company medical library held a copy (J-M no. 002450).

In plain English

This was a letter to the editor, not a research study, and it presented no new data. The authors responded to a series of papers by other researchers that had identified a significant risk of lung cancer among coke plant workers in steel mills. That risk had been attributed to gaseous hydrocarbon emissions, including benzpyrene. The authors wrote that this cause-and-effect link had not been demonstrated: the risk had been found associated with coke oven work, not necessarily with benzpyrene. They offered another explanation. Coke ovens and gas retorts require effective insulation, much of it containing asbestos, and the authors had been informed that its repair and maintenance were often the responsibility of coke oven workmen, except for major installations, alterations or repairs. This raised the question of the men's exposure to asbestos insulation dust, which the authors described as known to be associated with a lung cancer hazard. They added that hydrocarbons might still act as co-factors, as cigarette smoking does with asbestos insulation dust. The authors concluded that controls limited to atmospheric hydrocarbons may be ineffective in preventing lung cancer. They said attention to particulate pollution of the workplace appeared equally important.

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 commenting on other researchers' published studies; no new data
• Who was studied: Coke plant (coke oven) workers in steel mills, as described in other researchers' papers; the letter itself studied no one
• Exposure: Possible exposure to asbestos insulation dust during repair and maintenance of asbestos-containing insulation on coke ovens and gas retorts. The authors had been informed this work was often done by coke oven workmen, except for major installations, alterations or repairs. No fiber type is named. Gaseous hydrocarbon emissions, including benzpyrene, are discussed as the previously suggested cause.
• Main results:
  • The authors stated (without new data) that the lung cancer risk had been found associated with coke oven work, not necessarily with benzpyrene exposure, and that a cause-and-effect link to hydrocarbons had not been demonstrated
  • The authors described exposure to asbestos insulation dust as known to be associated with a lung cancer hazard
  • The authors wrote that carcinogenic hydrocarbons might act as co-factors, a role they said had already been demonstrated for cigarette smoking with asbestos insulation dust
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that if controls are limited to atmospheric hydrocarbons, they may be ineffective in preventing lung cancer, and that attention to particulate pollution of the work environment appears equally important

Topics

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

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Asbestos Exposure.

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