Can exposure to very low levels of asbestos induce pleural mesothelioma?

Our plain-English summary of Can exposure to very low levels of asbestos induce pleural mesothelioma?, by M. Goldberg, D. Luce (American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 2005).

The study

• Authors: M. Goldberg, D. Luce
• Journal: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine
• Published: 2005;172(8):939-40
• Type of article: Comment, Editorial, Review
• Cited by: 9 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Summary of the article

In this editorial, the authors commented on a study by Pan and coworkers, in the same journal issue, of residential proximity to naturally occurring asbestos and mesothelioma risk in California. They noted that most mesotheliomas in industrialized countries were caused by occupational exposure. People could also be exposed through household contact with asbestos workers, near industrial sources, in buildings containing asbestos, and from natural geological sources. Earlier studies in rural areas of Turkey, Greece, some Mediterranean islands, China and New Caledonia had indicated that exposure from birth did not seem to affect mesothelioma latency and that susceptibility did not differ by sex. Whether low-level exposure could cause pleural mesothelioma remained controversial, because exposures in those studies may have been high and were not adequately measured. The authors considered the Pan study the first to show quite convincingly an excess risk of pleural mesothelioma even at long distances from the asbestos source. Its limitations were partial accounting for occupational exposure, no residential history, no cases under 35 years, and indirect exposure assessment. Its strengths were register-based selection of a very large number of cases, precise geocoding, and a linear distance–risk relationship that was similar in men and women. Peritoneal mesothelioma risk was not related to distance. The authors wrote that this supported the hypothesis that very low asbestos levels may cause pleural mesothelioma. They called for assessment of cumulative exposure levels in affected areas.

PubMed has no abstract for this study, and the article doesn't print one. We wrote this summary from the full article with the help of AI. It is not the authors' wording.

In plain English

This article was an editorial, not an original study. The authors commented on a study by Pan and coworkers, published in the same journal issue, on how far people lived from naturally occurring asbestos and their risk of mesothelioma. According to the authors, that study found a linear relationship between distance and pleural mesothelioma risk. The relationship held when different methods were used and within some subgroups. It was similar in men and women, though not statistically significant in women because of smaller numbers. Peritoneal mesothelioma risk was not related to distance. The authors listed that study's limitations: occupational exposure was only partly accounted for, no residential histories were available, no cases under 35 could be included, and exposure was assessed indirectly. The authors judged that exposure at the remote distances where excess pleural mesothelioma risk appeared was most likely very low. They concluded that this supports the hypothesis that very low levels of asbestos may cause pleural mesothelioma. They called for further work to assess the cumulative exposure levels people experience in those areas.

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: Editorial commenting on another study (Pan and coworkers, same journal issue); no original data
• Who was studied: No population studied by these authors; the editorial discusses Pan and coworkers' register-based study of a large number of mesothelioma cases
• Exposure: Residential distance from naturally occurring asbestos (as studied by Pan and coworkers), used as an indirect measure of environmental exposure
• Main results:
  • As described by the authors, Pan and coworkers found a linear relationship between residential distance and pleural mesothelioma risk, still seen with different methods and in some subgroups
  • As described by the authors, the distance-effect relationship in Pan and coworkers' study was similar in men and women, but not statistically significant in women because of smaller numbers
  • As described by the authors, peritoneal mesothelioma risk in Pan and coworkers' study was not related to distance from the asbestos source
  • The authors judged that exposure at the remote distances where excess pleural mesothelioma risk appeared was most likely very low
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that Pan and coworkers' findings support the hypothesis that very low levels of asbestos may cause pleural mesothelioma, and that further work is needed to assess the cumulative exposure levels in areas with excess pleural mesothelioma risk
• Limitations the authors state:
  • Limitation of Pan and coworkers' study noted by the authors: occupational exposure was only partially taken into account
  • Limitation of Pan and coworkers' study noted by the authors: no residential history was available for the subjects
  • Limitation of Pan and coworkers' study noted by the authors: no cases under 35 years of age could be included
  • Limitation of Pan and coworkers' study noted by the authors: asbestos exposure was assessed indirectly

Topics

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

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Pleural Mesothelioma, naturally occurring asbestos (NOA), Mesothelioma, Occupational Exposure, New Caledonia, Latency, Peritoneal Mesothelioma, Cumulative Exposure.

Related studies

• Environmental exposure to crocidolite and mesothelioma: exposure-response relationships — J. Hansen, N.H. de Klerk, et al. (1998)
• Factors affecting soluble mesothelin related protein levels in an asbestos-exposed population — E.K. Park, P.S. Thomas, et al. (2010)
• Residential proximity to naturally occurring asbestos and mesothelioma risk in California — X.L. Pan, H.W. Day, et al. (2005)
• High risk of malignant mesothelioma and pleural plaques in subjects born close to ophiolites — M. Bayram, I. Dongel, et al. (2013)
• Residential proximity to naturally occurring asbestos: health risk or ecologic fallacy? — C.A. Brodkin, J.R. Balmes, et al. (2006)
• Age and sex differences in malignant mesothelioma after residential exposure to blue asbestos (crocidolite) — A. Reid, G. Berry, et al. (2007)

Browse more research in American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, or return to medical research.