In reply: asbestos, carcinogenicity, and public policy

Our plain-English summary of In reply: asbestos, carcinogenicity, and public policy, by K.S. Crump (Science, 1990).

The study

• Author: K.S. Crump
• Journal: Science
• Published: 1990;248(4957):799
• Cited by: 1 article, 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. 003819).

In plain English

This letter replied to Mossman et al.'s article on asbestos in buildings; it is not a research study. The author stated that Mossman et al.'s Government Services Administration (GSA) building figures were total asbestos structures, not those longer than 5 micrometers, so actual levels were lower. Corrected averages for structures longer than 5 micrometers were 0.0 per cubic centimeter in GSA buildings without asbestos-containing material, 0.00007 with undamaged and 0.00008 with damaged material, differences not statistically significant. Averages were 0.00024 in 71 schools, 0.00003 in Minnesota university buildings and 0.00009 in Maryland public buildings. By methods of a study Mossman et al. used, the author calculated 0.36 expected premature deaths per million for students over 6 years at 0.00024, and 0.43 per million for 20 years of work at 0.00007. Estimated lifetime risks from natural radionuclides in masonry building products over the same periods, 15 and 46 per million, excluded the much larger radon risks and were 40 to 100 times larger. Citing 1185 two-day samples from normal building activities, the author stated the data suggest brief disturbances occur infrequently or do not produce high exposures.

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: Letter to the editor commenting on and correcting an article by Mossman et al., with a table of building air measurements and calculated risk estimates
• Who was studied: Buildings, not people: GSA buildings with no, undamaged or damaged asbestos-containing material; 71 schools; Minnesota state university buildings; Maryland state buildings (the last two previously unpublished data generated in connection with litigation)
• Exposure: Airborne asbestos fibers (structures) longer than 5 micrometers inside buildings; fiber type not specified. Natural radiation from masonry building products was used as a comparison.
• Main results:
  • The GSA building levels reported by Mossman et al. were for total asbestos structures, not structures longer than 5 micrometers, so actual concentrations in GSA buildings were lower than reported.
  • GSA buildings: 0.0 structures/cm3 with no asbestos-containing material (6 buildings, 42 samples), 0.00007 with undamaged material (6 buildings, 42 samples), 0.00008 with damaged material (37 buildings, 256 samples). Differences among these three groups were not statistically significant.
  • Average levels were 0.00024 structures/cm3 in 71 schools (328 samples), 0.00003 in Minnesota universities (34 buildings, 170 samples) and 0.00009 in Maryland public buildings (72 buildings, 91 samples, as printed).
  • Calculated expected premature deaths for students exposed for 6 years to 0.00024 structure per cubic centimeter longer than 5 micrometers: 0.36 per million.
  • Calculated risk from 20 years of occupational exposure to 0.00007 structure per cubic centimeter longer than 5 micrometers: 0.43 per million.
  • Estimated lifetime risk from naturally occurring radionuclides in masonry building products: 15 per million for 6 years of school and 46 per million for 20 years of work. These risks do not include the much larger risks from radon, and they are 40 to 100 times larger than the corresponding asbestos-in-buildings risks.
  • The author stated the table data were based on 1185 samples, each collected over two consecutive days during normal building activities, equivalent to more than 3 years of continuous sampling.
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that the data suggest brief disturbances of asbestos materials either occur infrequently or do not produce high exposures.

Related studies

• In reply: asbestos, carcinogenicity, and public policy — W.J. Nicholson, E.M. Johnson, et al. (1990)
• In reply: asbestos, carcinogenicity, and public policy — B.T. Mossman, J. Bignon (1990)
• In reply: asbestos, carcinogenicity, and public policy — S.W. Samuels (1990)
• Reply to letter by Nolan and colleagues--re: the carcinogenicity of New York state talc dusts in humans — M. Finkelstein (2013)
• Asbestos: scientific developments and implications for public policy — B.T. Mossman, J. Bignon, et al. (1990)
• Naturally occurring asbestos: a recurring public policy challenge — R.J. Lee, B.R. Strohmeier, et al. (2008)

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