Asbestosis In A Worker Engaged In Automobile Undercoating

Our plain-English summary of Asbestosis In A Worker Engaged In Automobile Undercoating, by H.G. Brugsch, H. Bavley (1961).

The study

• Authors: H.G. Brugsch, H. Bavley
• Published: New England Journal Of Medicine 265(8):379-381, August 24 (1961)
• Type of article: Journal article
• Our copy: from Johns-Manville's own medical library, J-M no. 002621. The article is still under copyright, so we describe it here rather than post it.

In plain English

This was a case report of one worker plus a survey. A 41-year-old automobile mechanic was admitted to a hospital near Boston in December 1958 with fever, cough and shortness of breath. For six years he had also sprayed asbestos-base undercoating onto new cars. His coating contained asbestos in an asphalt base, and he worked without mechanical ventilation or respiratory protection. Chest x-rays showed fine nodular shadows in both lungs; lung biopsies showed foreign-body reaction and a few typical asbestos fibers. He improved but still had a cough a year later. The authors visited 55 car dealers in Metropolitan Boston. Most Massachusetts agencies used undercoating of asbestos in asphalt, about 50 per cent asbestos by weight. Air samples during spraying held 500,000 to 1,500,000 asbestos particles per cubic foot, which the authors judged not excessive under available standards. Chest x-rays of 25 of 75 undercoating workers were all read as negative. The authors concluded that under prevailing methods short exposures had not resulted in a hazard, but continuous work without ventilation and respiratory protection may expose workers to the potential danger of pneumoconiosis.

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 of one worker, followed by a cross-sectional survey of automobile undercoating operations in Massachusetts
• Who was studied: One 41-year-old automobile mechanic admitted to a hospital near Boston on December 15, 1958. The survey covered 55 automobile sales and service agencies in Metropolitan Boston, which sold and serviced 15 types of American automobiles. Chest x-rays were taken of 25 of the 75 employees doing undercoating.
• Exposure: Spraying of an asbestos-base undercoating on new cars. The patient's material contained asbestos of various fiber sizes in an asphalt base; the fiber type is not named. He did this for the last six years, about 1 to 3 cars daily during the first five years, with no mechanical ventilation and no respiratory protective devices. Most Massachusetts automobile agencies used an undercoating material containing asbestos in an asphalt medium, described as an asphalt base with approximately 50 per cent asbestos by weight.
• Main results:
  • In the patient, two wedge lung biopsies showed many areas of foreign-body reaction and a few typical asbestos fibers. There was no evidence of cancer, tuberculosis or Boeck's sarcoidosis.
  • The patient's chest x-rays showed diffuse infiltration of both lungs by minute, discrete nodular densities.
  • The patient was discharged greatly improved. On re-examination 12 months later he still had a moderate cough, with slight shortness of breath on exertion.
  • Most automobile agencies in Massachusetts used an undercoating material containing asbestos in an asphalt medium.
  • This undercoating material was described as an asphalt base containing approximately 50 per cent asbestos by weight.
  • In the survey, air samples taken during spraying averaged from 500,000 to 1,500,000 particles of asbestos per cubic foot of air. The asbestos was present as dust particles less than 10 microns long.
  • The authors judged the asbestos air contamination in the surveyed operations not excessive, based on available standards.
  • Among undercoating employees at the surveyed agencies, 25 of the 75 had chest x-rays, and all were interpreted as negative.
  • At the surveyed agencies, no special precautions were taken to prevent inhaling the sprayed undercoating compound.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the cross-sectional survey indicated that, under prevailing methods of operation, asbestos-base undercoating limited to short exposures had not resulted in an occupational hazard. If the work is done continuously without adequate ventilation and protective respiratory equipment, they wrote, it may expose the worker to the potential danger of pneumoconiosis. They made recommendations for workers with prolonged exposure.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Respirator, Chest X-Ray, Pneumoconiosis.

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