Environmental asbestos exposure and mesothelioma

Our plain-English summary of Environmental asbestos exposure and mesothelioma, by M.R. Orenstein, M.B. Schenker (Current Opinion in Pulmonary Medicine, 2000).

The study

• Authors: M.R. Orenstein, M.B. Schenker
• Journal: Current Opinion in Pulmonary Medicine
• Published: 2000;6(4):371-7
• Type of article: Review
• Cited by: 16 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Epidemiologic studies of mesothelioma have focused primarily on occupational exposures to asbestos. Nonoccupational exposure to asbestos can be grouped into three main categories: paraoccupational (familial), neighborhood, and true environmental exposures. Elevated mesothelioma rates not attributable to occupational exposures have been observed in asbestos mining and manufacturing areas. Asbestos is one of the most dangerous environmental carcinogens because of the small dose known to cause mesothelioma and the rapid lethality of the disease once it develops. Further research is needed to characterize the contribution and risk profile for environmental asbestos and mesothelioma, and for the development of public health policy.

In plain English

This article was a review of earlier research, not a new study. The authors summarized published work on mesothelioma in people exposed to asbestos outside of work. They grouped this exposure into three kinds: paraoccupational (familial) exposure from dust brought home by workers, neighborhood exposure near asbestos mines and factories, and exposure to naturally occurring asbestos. They described studies from South Africa, Australia, Canada, Italy, the United States, Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, New Caledonia and Corsica. For example, they reported on a cohort study of 4659 residents of Wittenoom, a crocidolite mining area in Western Australia, who never worked for the mining company. That study found 27 mesothelioma cases, though the authors noted that familial exposure could have accounted for 24 of them. They also noted that many of the studies were small or ecologic, and that ruling out work exposure was often difficult. The authors concluded that these findings confirm that natural asbestos deposits can cause mesothelioma in people not exposed at work. They added that routes of exposure, latency and risk still need further study.

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: Narrative review of published studies (annual review article); no new data collected
• Who was studied: Published studies of people with nonoccupational asbestos exposure: families of workers, residents near mines and asbestos factories (South Africa, Western Australia, Quebec, northwest Italy, New Jersey), and residents of areas with naturally occurring asbestos (Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, New Caledonia, Corsica)
• Exposure: Nonoccupational asbestos exposure grouped as paraoccupational (familial), neighborhood (mining and asbestos factories), and true environmental (naturally occurring tremolite, chrysotile, crocidolite and amosite). The review also covered erionite, a nonasbestos fiber.
• Main results:
  • For familial (paraoccupational) exposure, the authors stated there is agreement that the dose linked to increased mesothelioma risk is lower than usual workplace exposure.
  • The authors reported that in the South African case-control study by Rees et al., the odds ratio for people environmentally exposed in the northwest Cape region (mainly crocidolite) was 32.7 (95% CI 8.1 to 131).
  • The authors reported that in the Wittenoom, Western Australia cohort (4659 residents who never worked for the mining company), 27 mesothelioma cases were found, an age-standardized rate of 26 per 100,000 person-years for residents aged 15 or more. They noted that familial exposure could have accounted for 24 of the 27 cases.
  • The authors reported that in the New Jersey study by Berry, standardized incidence ratios for residents of the town with the asbestos factory, compared with New Jersey rates, were 10.1 for men (95% CI 5.8 to 16.4) and 22.4 for women (95% CI 9.7 to 44.2).
  • The authors reported that in the tremolite area of Metsovo, Greece, the mesothelioma rate was 28 per 100,000 person-years (1981 to 1985) and fell to 14 per 100,000 person-years (1985 to 1994), based on 7 and 6 cases.
  • On erionite in the Cappadocia region of Turkey, the authors wrote that if reported figures are accurate, erionite is more carcinogenic than even crocidolite.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the findings confirm natural asbestos deposits can cause mesothelioma in nonoccupationally exposed populations, but that routes of exposure, latency and risk need further characterization.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors stated that attributing cases to environmental exposure is difficult in some of the studies because they are ecologic, and that it can be hard to prove an absence of occupational exposure.
  • The authors stated that few epidemiologic studies have looked specifically at naturally occurring asbestos.

Topics

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

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Asbestos Exposure, Mesothelioma, Occupational Exposure, Environmental Exposure.

Related studies

• Diachronic study of pleural plaques in rural population with environmental exposure to asbestos — L. Sichletidis, D. Chloros, et al. (2006)
• Malignant mesothelioma due to environmental exposure to asbestos: follow-up of a Turkish cohort living in a rural area — S. Metintas, M. Metintas, et al. (2002)
• Lung diseases due to environmental exposures to erionite and asbestos in Turkey — S. Emri, A. Demir, et al. (2002)
• Environmental asbestos exposure and malignant pleural mesothelioma — M. Metintas, N. Ozdemir, et al. (1999)
• Incidence of malignant pleural mesothelioma due to environmental asbestos fiber exposure in the southeast of Turkey — A. Senyiğit, C. Babayiğit, et al. (2000)
• Malignant pleural mesothelioma caused by environmental exposure to asbestos in the Southeast of Turkey: CT findings in 117 patients — A. Senyiğit, H. Bayram, et al. (2000)

Browse more research in Current Opinion in Pulmonary Medicine, or return to medical research.