Asbestosis following brief exposure in cigarette filter manufacture

Our plain-English summary of Asbestosis following brief exposure in cigarette filter manufacture, by A.M. Goff, E.A. Gaensler (Respiration; International Review of Thoracic Diseases, 1972).

The study

• Authors: A.M. Goff, E.A. Gaensler
• Journal: Respiration; International Review of Thoracic Diseases
• Published: 1972;29(1):83-93
• Cited by: 14 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. 001332).

Abstract

Severe asbestosis was found on lung biopsy in a 47-year-old woolen mill worker, who, 16 years before, was exposed to asbestos dust for a period of only 9 months. He made cigarette filters which consisted of a mixture of Cape blue asbestos and acetate. The presenting symptom of dyspnea on exertion and classic radiographic changes first became evident 13 years later. Characteristic pathophysiologic findings of restrictive insufficiency and diffusing impairment were demonstrated. Pulmonary insufficiency progressed over a 2-year period to total disability. The myriad products containing asbestos are reviewed and the dangers of exposure in secondary industries using these products are emphasized.

PubMed has no abstract for this study. This is the authors' abstract, copied from the article.

In plain English

This case report described one man, a 47-year-old woolen mill worker admitted to the authors' Boston thoracic service in August 1968 with breathlessness that had been increasing for 2 years. He first reported 26 years of woolen mill work. Only after asbestos bodies were found in his sputum, and after repeated questioning, did he recall working for 9 months in 1953 in a factory making cigarette filters of Cape blue asbestos and acetate. There he moved raw asbestos by hand from bags to carding machines in a very dusty room while wearing a nose mask. He had stopped smoking 6 months before admission. Chest X-rays showed small lungs, a dense linear pattern more marked in the lower zones, and marked pleural thickening on both sides. Breathing tests showed marked restriction and reduced gas transfer. A lung biopsy showed advanced pleural and interstitial fibrosis with asbestos bodies. The authors reported that the illness progressed to total disability over 2 years. They concluded that the case showed the dangers of even very brief exposure and the importance of detailed occupational history-taking.

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: case report (single patient)
• Who was studied: One 47-year-old white man who worked in woolen mills, admitted in August 1968 to the Thoracic Services, Boston University Medical School, with increasing shortness of breath for 2 years
• Exposure: 9 months of work in 1953 in a factory making cigarette filters of a mixture of Cape blue asbestos and acetate. He transferred raw asbestos by hand from bags to carding machines in a very dusty atmosphere while wearing a nose mask that often clogged.
• Main results:
  • The patient first said he had worked only in woolen mills for 26 years. He recalled the asbestos filter work only after close questioning that followed the finding of asbestos bodies in his sputum.
  • Raw asbestos handling in the filter factory: he moved asbestos by hand from bags to carding machines.
  • The patient had stopped smoking 6 months before admission; his slight cough and sputum disappeared after he stopped.
  • The chest X-ray showed small lungs, a dense linear and reticular infiltrate more marked in the lower zones, and marked bilateral pleural thickening.
  • Lung function tests in this patient showed marked restrictive impairment, with vital, timed vital and total lung capacities reduced to 50% of predicted. Diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide was reduced.
  • The lung biopsy (August 1968) showed advanced pleural and interstitial fibrosis, with a few asbestos bodies in alveolar spaces and around bronchioles.
  • One year later the chest X-ray was unchanged, but lung function studies showed increasing restriction.
  • The authors reported that the patient's pulmonary insufficiency progressed over 2 years to total disability.
  • The authors stated that they knew of other men who had worked in the same plant on the same project who had died of asbestosis. No numbers or details were given.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the case illustrated the dangers of even very brief asbestos exposure and of exposure in apparently 'benign' occupations, and the great importance of detailed occupational history-taking.

Topics

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

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Biopsy, Cape Blue, Dyspnea.

Related studies

• Mesothelioma in manufacturers of asbestos-containing cigarette filters — J. Talcott, W. Thurber, et al. (1987)
• Cigarette smoke, asbestos, and small irregular opacities — W. Weiss (1984)
• Effects of cigarette smoke and asbestos on airway, vascular and mesothelial cell proliferation — H. Sekhon, J. Wright, et al. (1995)
• Cigarette smoke makes airway and early parenchymal asbestos-induced lung disease worse in the guinea pig — V. Tron, J.L. Wright, et al. (1987)
• Cigarette smoke increases the penetration of asbestos fibers into airway walls — D. McFadden, J. Wright, et al. (1986)
• Synergistic effects of mineral fibres and cigarette smoke on the production of tumour necrosis factor by alveolar macrophages of rats — Y. Morimoto, M. Kido, et al. (1993)

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