Environmental asbestos-related pleural plaque in southeast of Turkey

Our plain-English summary of Environmental asbestos-related pleural plaque in southeast of Turkey, by G. Ates, T. Yildiz, L. Akyildiz, et al (Archives of Environmental & Occupational Health, 2010).

The study

• Authors: G. Ates, T. Yildiz, L. Akyildiz, F. Topcu, B. Erturk
• Journal: Archives of Environmental & Occupational Health
• Published: 2010;65(1):34-7
• Cited by: 7 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

It is known that many malignant and benign pleural diseases occur due to environmental exposure to mineral fibers. Calcified pleural plaque (CPP) is an important sign of asbestos exposure on chest radiographic examination. To study the possible change in the prevalence of CPP and diffuse pleural thickening 3 decades after cessation of asbestos exposure. CPP were detected in 29.9% of the villagers; 4.7% had diffuse pleural thickening and 0.7% had asbestosis. The significant variable for CPP and diffuse pleural thickening was age. The youngest villager with CPP was 33 years of age and the prevalence of CPP increased with an increase in age. The reason for our cases with CPP being of advanced age is the discontinuation of asbestos exposure. This finding enables us to suggest that environmental asbestos-related disease will gradually decrease in future decades.

In plain English

This cross-sectional study screened adults in Yukariseyhler, a village in southeast Turkey where local soil containing asbestiform minerals was used for whitewash and stucco until the early 1980s. The authors describe the soil as containing mainly tremolite asbestos. After permanent residents were identified in 2006, chest X-rays from 274 adults aged 20 or older were evaluated by two specialists who did not know participants' ages. None had a history of occupational asbestos exposure. Calcified pleural plaques were found in 82 of 274 (29.9%), diffuse pleural thickening in 13 (4.7%), and asbestosis in 0.7%. Plaques became more common with age: none were seen among the 30 people aged 21 to 30, and the youngest person with plaques was 33. Men had higher rates than women, but in regression analysis this difference was related to age. The plaque rate was higher than in earlier regional studies, which the authors attributed partly to differences in samples and X-ray methods. The authors concluded that plaques appearing in older age groups may indicate that environmental exposure had stopped, offering hope that other asbestos-related diseases will decrease in future decades.

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: Cross-sectional chest X-ray screening survey of villagers with environmental asbestos exposure
• Who was studied: Permanent inhabitants of Yukariseyhler village, Cermik town, southeast Turkey, identified in 2006. Of 885 residents, 542 were aged 20 or older. Chest X-rays were obtained in 286 and 274 were evaluated (165 women, 109 men).
• Exposure: Environmental (household) exposure to local soil containing asbestiform minerals, described by the authors as mainly tremolite asbestos, used for whitewash, stucco and roofs. Use had stopped since the early 1980s. No participant had a history of occupational asbestos exposure.
• Main results:
  • Of 274 evaluated adults, 82 (29.9%) had calcified pleural plaques and 13 (4.7%) had diffuse pleural thickening
  • Asbestosis was found in 0.7% of evaluated adults
  • Calcified pleural plaques increased with age. The difference between age groups was significant (p less than .001).
  • No calcified plaques were seen in the 20 to 30 age group. The youngest person with plaques was 33 and the youngest with diffuse pleural thickening was 45.
  • Mean age was 59.1 (plus or minus 12.6) years for people with pleural calcification and 46.4 (plus or minus 14.2) years for those without. The difference was significant (p less than .001).
  • Among people with calcified plaques, plaques were bilateral in 78%, right-sided in 12% and left-sided in 10%. Diaphragmatic calcification was present in 70%.
  • Rates were higher in men than women: calcified plaques in 40 of 109 men (36.7%) vs 42 of 165 women (25.5%), and diffuse pleural thickening in 9 of 109 men (8.3%) vs 4 of 165 women (2.4%). In logistic regression this difference was related to age.
  • The calcified plaque rate was significantly higher than in earlier studies by Yazicioglu et al. The authors attributed this partly to differences in the screened sample, more homogeneous exposure, age structure, and use of X-rays instead of photofluorograms.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that seeing calcified pleural plaques in older age groups may indicate that environmental asbestos exposure has stopped, giving hope for a decrease in other asbestos-related diseases in future decades.

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Asbestosis, Pleural plaques and thickening.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Pleural Plaques, Environmental Exposure, Mineral Fiber, Asbestos Exposure, Diffuse Pleural Thickening.

Related studies

• 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 mesotheliomas: an environmental health risk in southeast Turkey — K.M. Müller, M. Fischer (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)
• Pleural calcification associated with exposure to chrysotile asbestos in southeast Turkey — S. Yazicioglu (1976)
• Lung diseases due to environmental exposures to erionite and asbestos in Turkey — S. Emri, A. Demir, et al. (2002)
• Environmental exposure to asbestos in eastern Turkey — H.C. Hasanoğlu, M. Gokirmak, et al. (2003)

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