Asbestos in the workplace and the community

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos in the workplace and the community, by W.J. Smither (Environmental Health Perspectives, 1974).

The study

• Author: W.J. Smither
• Journal: Environmental Health Perspectives
• Published: 1974;9:327-9
• Cited by: 1 article, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text
• In J-M's library: Johns-Manville's company medical library held a copy (J-M no. 002366).

Abstract

Information developed by Newhouse in a survey of an asbestos factory in London suggests that the risk of mesothelial tumors is strongly related to both the degree and the length of exposure to asbestos dust.

In plain English

This short commentary presented extracts from a paper by Newhouse, with added remarks. It did not report new research by the author. Newhouse followed men who started work between April 1933 and 1968 at an East London factory using crocidolite, amosite and chrysotile asbestos, and women first employed there between 1936 and 1942. Deaths were counted to March 31, 1970. Counting only time after the tenth year, mesothelioma deaths (pleural and peritoneal tumors) per 100,000 subject-years rose with both severity and length of exposure. Among men employed under 2 years, rates were 25 with low-moderate exposure, 71 with severe exposure and 157 among laggers. Among men employed over 2 years, they were 102, 154 and 261. Women with severe exposure had rates of 84 and 141, and women with low-moderate exposure had no such deaths. The commentary stated there may be no level where cancer risk is eliminated, but strict factory hygiene and dust suppression may minimize it. It also summarized earlier reports of mesothelioma among people living near asbestos mines or factories.

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: Commentary presenting extracts from another author's (Newhouse's) mortality study of workers at one asbestos factory, followed by remarks on community exposure that cite earlier reports
• Who was studied: Workers at an East London asbestos factory: men who started work between April 1933 and the factory's closure in 1968, and a smaller group of women first employed between 1936 and 1942. Deaths were followed to March 31, 1970.
• Exposure: Asbestos dust at a factory that was a heavy user of crocidolite and also used amosite and chrysotile. Exposure was graded low-moderate (nonproduction workers and those working with low proportions of asbestos in the product) or severe (openers, disintegrators and production workers). Laggers were shown separately for men. Length of employment was split at 2 years.
• Main results:
  • Mesothelioma death rates were calculated per 100,000 subject-years, counting only follow-up after more than 10 years.
  • Men employed less than 2 years: 2 deaths in 7899 subject-years (rate 25) with low-moderate exposure; 8 deaths in 11193 subject-years (rate 71) with severe exposure; 4 deaths in 2550 subject-years (rate 157) among laggers.
  • Men employed more than 2 years: 5 deaths in 4926 subject-years (rate 102) with low-moderate exposure; 9 deaths in 5851 subject-years (rate 154) with severe exposure; 4 deaths in 1530 subject-years (rate 261) among laggers.
  • Women employed less than 2 years: 0 deaths in 931 subject-years with low-moderate exposure; 6 deaths in 7176 subject-years (rate 84) with severe exposure. Women employed more than 2 years: 0 deaths in 640 subject-years with low-moderate exposure; 5 deaths in 3538 subject-years (rate 141) with severe exposure.
  • The mesothelioma rate increased both with severity of exposure and with length of exposure in the job.
  • An earlier report cited in the commentary (not this study): 11 of Wagner's 33 patients with mesothelial tumors in the Cape Province of South Africa had had no occupational exposure but had been born and lived some years on the asbestos mine fields.
  • An earlier report cited in the commentary (not this study): of the London Hospital series of 76 cases, 11 had had no occupational or other contact with asbestos but had lived within half a mile of an asbestos factory.
• The authors' conclusion: The commentary stated that the figures suggest mesothelial tumor risk is strongly related to both the degree and the length of exposure to asbestos dust. It also stated that there may be no critical level at which the cancer risk is eliminated, but strict control of factory hygiene and dust suppression may minimize the risk.

Topics

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

Related studies

• Mesothelioma in a community in the north of England — M. Greenberg (1997)
• Outcomes of cytoreduction with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy: our experience at a midwest community hospital — B. Goslin, S. Sevak, et al. (2012)
• Survival Outcomes for Malignant Peritoneal Mesothelioma at Academic Versus Community Hospitals — V.M. Welten, A.C. Fields, et al. (2022)
• Community health risk assessment after a fire with asbestos containing fallout — S. Bridgman (2001)
• Community exposure to asbestos — D. Davies (1977)
• Mesothelioma in a community in the north of England — A.T. Edward, D. Whitaker, et al. (1996)

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