Asbestos in Italy

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos in Italy, by D. Degiovanni, B. Pesce, N. Pondrano (International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, 2004).

The study

• Authors: D. Degiovanni, B. Pesce, N. Pondrano
• Journal: International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health
• Published: 2004;10(2):193-7
• Type of article: Historical article
• Cited by: 8 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Asbestos-related diseases remain common in Italy due to past exposures that were tolerated by a government distracted and manipulated by multinational asbestos corporations. The incidence of asbestos-related cancers has taken on almost epidemic proportions, for example, in Casale Monferrato in northwest Italy, where Eternit remained in operation until 1985, and in Monfalcone in northeast Italy, where naval dockyards and related activities created pollution. Authorities took action only after public protests, trade union pressures, and campaigning by the families of victims. Now that a ban exists in Italy, it is vital that it be fully enforced to reverse the epidemic of mesothelioma, lung cancer, and other asbestos-related diseases.

In plain English

This article was a narrative overview, not an original study. The authors described the history of asbestos use in Italy, including the Eternit asbestos-cement plant in Casale Monferrato, which used domestic chrysotile and asbestos imported mainly from South Africa (chrysotile and crocidolite) until it closed in 1985. They summarized earlier research by others. A 1940 report they quoted found asbestosis in 76 of 442 workers examined. A cited study of 3,367 Eternit workers reported 118 asbestosis deaths against 0.2 expected. Cited national data counted 998 deaths from malignant pleural tumors in Italy in 1994 (654 men, 344 women). Among men, cited regional rates for 1988 to 1994 were highest in Liguria, then Friuli-Venezia Giulia, then Piedmont. A cited Casale Monferrato study of 163 pleural and 22 peritoneal mesothelioma cases from 1990 to 1998 found that only a third could be related to occupational exposure. The authors also described decades of trade union and community campaigning that preceded Italy's 1992 ban. They concluded that the ban must be fully enforced to reverse the epidemic of asbestos-related disease.

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: Narrative review and historical overview of asbestos use, asbestos-related disease and the campaign against asbestos in Italy. It summarizes studies by other researchers and presents no new data of its own.
• Who was studied: Italy as a whole, with a focus on Casale Monferrato (Piedmont), where more than 5,000 people worked at the Eternit asbestos-cement plant between 1906 and 1985.
• Exposure: Occupational, domestic and environmental asbestos exposure. At Eternit, 55% of the asbestos was domestically mined chrysotile and 45% was imported, primarily from South Africa (chrysotile and crocidolite). Other industries discussed include shipbuilding, harbor works, textiles and railroads.
• Main results:
  • In a 1940 report by Vigliani, quoted by the authors, 76 of 442 workers examined in four asbestos factories had asbestosis.
  • In a mortality study of Eternit workers in Casale Monferrato cited by the authors, there were 118 asbestosis deaths among 3,367 workers exposed between 1965 and 1993, against 0.2 expected.
  • In a cited study by Germani and colleagues, 3,417 workers compensated for asbestosis (2,776 men and 641 women) were followed through 1990. It showed a significant increase in mortality from respiratory diseases and from cancers of the lung, pleura, intestine and ovary.
  • Cited national data: between 1969 and 1994, mortality from malignant pleural tumors in Italy increased by 15% every five years, with 500 to 900 deaths each year.
  • Cited national data: in 1994 there were 998 deaths from pleural mesothelioma in Italy (654 males and 344 females). The text gives a standardized rate of 1.28 per 100,000 inhabitants.
  • The text says regional pleural tumor mortality for 1988 to 1994 peaked in Liguria, followed by Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Piedmont. In Table 2 this order matches the rates for men: Liguria 7.82, Friuli-Venezia Giulia 4.07 and Piedmont 3.37 per 100,000. For men and women combined, the table ranks Piedmont (2.70) above Friuli-Venezia Giulia (2.46), with Liguria highest (4.89).
  • A cited Casale Monferrato study covered 163 pleural mesothelioma cases (90 males, 73 females) and 22 peritoneal mesothelioma cases (16 males, 6 females) from 1990 to 1998. Only a third could be related to occupational exposures.
  • A cited Piedmont study estimated that around 3.9% of lung tumors among men from 1980 to 1992 could be attributed to asbestos exposure.
  • In Casale Monferrato alone, more than 1,200 asbestos-related disease cases were reported after asbestos was banned.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that, now that asbestos is banned in Italy, the ban must be fully enforced to reverse the epidemic of mesothelioma, lung cancer and other asbestos-related diseases.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors stated that official INAIL compensation data underreported the actual incidence of asbestosis, because of inconsistent regulatory enforcement and often intentional underreporting by companies and physicians.

Topics

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

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Casale Monferrato, Eternit, Mesothelioma, Lung Cancer.

Related studies

• Late industrial development and occupational health in southern Italy — G. Assennato, L. Bisceglia, et al. (2005)
• A cross-sectional study on asbestos workers carried out in Italy in 1940: a forgotten study — E. Merler (1998)
• Risk of de novo cancers after transplantation: results from a cohort of 7217 kidney transplant recipients, Italy 1997-2009 — P. Piselli, D. Serraino, et al. (2013)
• Cancer mortality and incidence of mesothelioma in a cohort of wives of asbestos workers in Casale Monferrato, Italy — D. Ferrante, M. Bertolotti, et al. (2007)
• Pleural mesothelioma mortality and asbestos exposure mapping in Italy — L. Fazzo, M. De Santis, et al. (2012)
• Incidence of mesothelioma in Lombardy, Italy: exposure to asbestos, time patterns and future projections — C. Mensi, S. De Matteis, et al. (2016)

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