Asbestos levels in human lungs

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos levels in human lungs, by C. Gold (Journal of Clinical Pathology, 1969).

The study

• Author: C. Gold
• Journal: Journal of Clinical Pathology
• Published: 1969;22(4):507
• Cited by: 1 article, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

In plain English

This is a short abstract of a 1969 meeting talk, not a full paper. The author, at the M.R.C. Pneumoconiosis Research Unit, Penarth, used a KOH extraction method to detect and count asbestos in lung tissue. From 1965 to 1969, 620 extracts from lung biopsies, lobectomies, pneumonectomies and postmortem lungs were examined. Of these, three hundred and thirty-six were positive for asbestos. Of these, two hundred and ninety-two were counted and related to whether asbestos lung disease was present. Counts ranged from nil to 13,000,000 asbestos forms per gram of dried lung tissue. They fitted fairly well into four groups: no disease, mild, moderate or severe asbestosis. The author reported that the known association of asbestos with malignancy was confirmed, but the pattern was less clear cut. In pleural and peritoneal mesotheliomas, lung counts varied considerably and tumour extract levels were low. In bronchial carcinomas, lung counts were variably raised and tumour tissue counts were relatively high. The author wrote that it would seem important to define significant disease levels that could be used to control community and individual exposure risks.

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: Meeting abstract describing a laboratory series of asbestos counts in lung tissue extracts
• Who was studied: 620 extracts from lung biopsies, lobectomies, pneumonectomies and postmortem lungs, examined over three and a half years (1965 to 1969) at the M.R.C. Pneumoconiosis Research Unit, Penarth, Glamorgan
• Exposure: Amount of asbestos in lung tissue, measured as asbestos forms per gram of dried lung tissue. No fiber types are named.
• Main results:
  • Of 620 extracts, three hundred and thirty-six were positive for asbestos. Of these, two hundred and ninety-two were counted and related to the presence or absence of asbestos lung disease.
  • In the counted extracts, values ranged from nil to 13,000,000 asbestos forms per gram of dried lung tissue. They fitted fairly well into four groups: no disease, mild, moderate or severe asbestosis.
  • The known association of asbestos and malignancy was confirmed, but the pattern was less clear cut. All extracts from the positive tumour cases gave abnormal results.
  • In pleural and peritoneal mesotheliomas, lung values varied considerably and tumour extract levels were low.
  • In bronchial carcinomas, lung counts were variably raised and tumour tissue counts were relatively high.
• The authors' conclusion: The author wrote that it would seem important to define significant disease levels, which could be used to control community and individual exposure risks.

Topics

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

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