Asbestos-related diseases and asbestos types used in the former GDR

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos-related diseases and asbestos types used in the former GDR, by W. Sturm, B. Menze, J. Krause, et al (Experimental and Toxicologic Pathology, 1995).

The study

• Authors: W. Sturm, B. Menze, J. Krause, B. Thriene
• Journal: Experimental and Toxicologic Pathology
• Published: 1995;47(2-3):173-8
• Cited by: 3 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

In the period from 1960 to 1990 about 1.4 million tonnes of asbestos were imported by the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) and mainly processed into asbestos-cement products for the building industry. The production was concentrated in the former counties of Magdeburg and Dresden. In the past, asbestos was primarily used as insulation and fire prevention material, etc. in the large-scale chemical industry. Chrysotile was predominantly imported from the former Soviet Union, partly from Canada. Very small amounts of amphiboles came from Mozambique, but they were not processed in the counties of Magdeburg and Halle. In the German Federal State of Saxony-Anhalt, approx. 600 asbestoses, almost 2,700 pleural changes caused by asbestos, 843 asbestos-induced mesotheliomas and 787 bronchial and laryngeal carcinomas caused by asbestos were recorded in the period from 1960 to 1990. A considerable percentage of the mesotheliomas are solely due to exposure to chrysotile asbestos.

In plain English

This report described asbestos use in the former East Germany (GDR) and asbestos-related diseases recorded in what is now Saxony-Anhalt. From 1960 to 1989 the GDR imported about 1.4 million tonnes of raw asbestos, mainly from the former Soviet Union and partly from Canada. Analyses cited by the authors found both to be pure chrysotile. Smaller amounts of amphibole asbestos were also imported. More than 70% of the imported asbestos went into asbestos-cement building materials. For 1960 to 1990 the authors recorded about 600 cases of asbestosis, almost 2,700 asbestos-related pleural changes, 787 bronchial and laryngeal carcinomas and 1,082 mesotheliomas, 843 of them accepted as asbestos-related. Of 481 mesothelioma cases with known asbestos types, 67 (14%) were attributed to chrysotile exposure alone. In that group the average time from first exposure to death was about a decade shorter than after amphibole exposure. The authors concluded that chrysotile had a mesothelioma-causing potential that may be smaller than that of amphiboles but is significant. For the other 239 mesothelioma cases, not accepted as asbestos-related, sufficient occupational-history information could not be obtained.

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: Descriptive report (conference paper) combining asbestos import and use statistics with officially recorded asbestos-related disease cases, including an analysis of mesothelioma cases by type of asbestos exposure
• Who was studied: Recorded asbestos-related disease cases in the region that is now the German state of Saxony-Anhalt (former counties of Magdeburg and Halle), 1960 to 1990: about 600 asbestoses, almost 2,700 pleural changes, 787 bronchial and laryngeal carcinomas and 1,082 mesotheliomas, of which 843 were accepted as asbestos-related and 812 had complete data
• Exposure: Mainly chrysotile imported from the former Soviet Union (Kiembay mining area, Ural mountains) and Canada, used mostly in asbestos-cement products. Smaller amounts of amphiboles were also used: anthophyllite from Mozambique (some 90 tonnes a year in 1980 to 1985, used by a Berlin manufacturer) and, in earlier years, crocidolite. Workers were exposed in asbestos-cement manufacture and processing, insulation and sealing materials, talc containing tremolite and anthophyllite, and the automotive industry.
• Main results:
  • Raw asbestos imports of the former GDR from 1960 to 1989 amounted to about 1.4 million tonnes
  • More than 70% of imported raw asbestos was processed into asbestos-cement building materials
  • Of 1,082 mesotheliomas recorded in Saxony-Anhalt from 1960 to 1990, 843 were accepted as asbestos-related
  • Of 481 mesothelioma cases with detailed information on asbestos types, sole exposure to chrysotile was determined to be the cause in 67 cases (14%)
  • Of the 812 mesothelioma cases with complete data (Table 5), 135 were in the amphiboles group, 279 in the amphiboles-and-chrysotile group, 331 in the 'chrysotile, amphiboles possible' group and 67 in the chrysotile-only group
  • The average 'lethal period' (from start of exposure to death from mesothelioma) in the chrysotile-only group was about a decade shorter than after amphibole exposure. Table 5 gives 31 years for chrysotile only, against 40 to 41 years for the other groups.
  • Age at death from mesothelioma was nearly the same in all exposure groups (Table 5 averages 65 to 69 years)
  • In the former GDR in 1988, 5,270 occupational diseases were officially recognized. Occupational cancers made up 6.1% of them, mostly respiratory cancers, of which 90% were attributed to asbestos fibres.
  • Fibre concentrations measured at workplaces without suction devices varied widely depending on material and work process
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the findings point to a mesothelioma-inducing potential of Russian chrysotile that may be smaller than that of amphibole asbestos but is significant. They also wrote that chrysotile may persist in the body long enough to cause chronic and progressive processes, including mesotheliomas.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • For the 239 mesothelioma cases not among the 843 accepted as asbestos-related, sufficient information on the individual occupational history could not be obtained
  • Because workplace fibre concentrations varied so much, exposure calculations based on catalogue data, and retrospective exposure assessment, could contain significant errors
  • Official import statistics for 1989 exceeded industry data by about 13,000 tonnes, which the authors could not locate
  • Cases were placed in the 'chrysotile, amphiboles possible' group when earlier admixture of amphiboles could not be ruled out

Topics

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

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Asbestos-Cement, Chrysotile, Amphibole Group, Mesothelioma, Carcinoma.

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