International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health

Our medical research library holds 156 studies published in International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health (1995–2018). Each entry links to the study's record on PubMed and, where there is one, to the publisher's page and a free full text. 107 have an abstract, the authors' own summary as PubMed records it: open "Abstract" to read it. For 11 studies PubMed has no abstract for, we give the abstract printed in the article or, where there is none, a summary we wrote from it, each labeled as such.

About the journal

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Published: 1995–2018, England
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1077-3525 (print), 2049-3967 (electronic)
• Its record in the NLM Catalog

2010s

• A meta-analysis of airborne asbestos fiber concentrations from work with or around asbestos-containing floor tile. A.L. Perez, M.L. Nelson, T.J. Cheng, et al. 2018;24(3-4):134-148. Meta-analysis PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

  Abstract

  In this meta-analysis, exposures to airborne asbestos during work with or around floor tiles were characterized according to several variables: study, sample type, activity, and task. Personal breathing zone, bystander, and area sample exposure concentrations were differentiated and compared against current occupational exposure limits to asbestos. In total, 22 studies, including 804 personal, 57 bystander, and 295 area samples, were included in the analysis. The arithmetic mean airborne fiber concentrations were 0.05, 0.02, and 0.01 f/cm3 for personal, bystander, and area samples, respectively. Arithmetic mean time-weighted-average fiber concentrations over an 8-h working day were 0.02 and 0.01 f/cm3 for personal and bystander samples, respectively. Phase contrast microscopy (PCM) personal airborne fiber concentrations were highest for maintenance activities, followed by removal and installation. Tasks that involved buffing or burnishing, scoring or snapping, and scraping or lifting had the highest personal PCM concentrations, while stripping floor tile and removing it with chemical solvent had the lowest concentrations. Exposures associated with handling asbestos floor tiles, under working conditions normally encountered, do not generally produce airborne concentrations at levels that exceed the current OSHA PEL nor do they appear to approach the threshold cumulative asbestos dose concentrations that have been previously associated with an increased risk of asbestos-related disease.

• Asbestos knowledge and awareness level in central part of Anatolia. S. Metintas, G. Ak, F. Bogar, et al. 2017;23(3):243-249. PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

  Abstract

  Background Asbestos-contaminated soil has been used by people for many years in the rural part of Anatolia. However, there is no program to control usage of asbestos in this region. Objective To determine the knowledge and awareness level about asbestos in a region where asbestos-related diseases are endemic due to environmental exposure to asbestos in the rural setting. Methods This study included 760 participants, recruited using non-probability sampling, who were classified into four groups according to residence and asbestos exposure type (urban, rural; asbestos-exposed, asbestos-unexposed). Asbestos knowledge and awareness was measured via the Asbestos Knowledge and Awareness Questionnaire (AKAQ). The cut-off value of questionnaire was determined by the K-means cluster analysis for sufficient and insufficient knowledge and awareness level. A multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to determine independent factors affecting sufficient knowledge and awareness of participants about asbestos. Results The median and mean score of the AKAQ in study group were 30 and 33.9, respectively. The urban asbestos-exposed group had a higher score than the urban asbestos-unexposed and both rural groups (p < 0.001). Factors affecting asbestos knowledge and awareness were education status (p = 0.035), asbestos exposure (p = 0.003) and living in the rural area (p = 0.005). Sufficient knowledge and awareness (score > 45) was higher among participants who had graduated from university and had asbestos exposure. Insufficient knowledge and awareness level was higher among participants living in rural areas. Conclusion In this region of Anatolia, knowledge and awareness level of asbestos was low among people at risk for environmental asbestos exposure. People should be aware of asbestos and its hazards by a well-designed training program and be monitored for asbestos-related diseases.

• Spatio-seasonal variation of airborne asbestos concentration in urban areas of Shiraz, Iran. M.K. Fathi Fathabadi, A. Abdolahnejad, H. Teiri, et al. 2017;23(2):143-150. PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

  Abstract

  Background Asbestos fiber is mainly released from friction product in brakes and clutch linings and from reinforcing agent in the asbestos-cement industry. It leads to serious health problem such as mesothelioma and lung cancer. The objectives of this study were to monitor the levels of asbestos fibers in ambient air of Shiraz, Iran during 2014, and to draw its GIS distribution map for the city. Methods Samples were collected by mixed cellulose ester filters mounted on an open-faced filter holder using a SKC sampling pump. Fiber counting was conducted using both phase contrast microscopy (PCM) method to determine total fibers, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) method to identify non-asbestos from asbestos fibers. Results The average concentrations of asbestos fibers in ambient air of the city were 1.11 ± 0.25 PCM f/l and 12.21 ± 2.52 SEM f/l. The highest concentration of asbestos fibers was measured in Valiasr square amounting 1.96 ± 0.34 PCM f/l and 16.87 ± 2.14 SEM f/l. Conclusions The average of asbestos fibers in all sampling points was higher than the WHO guideline (0.05 PCM f/l, 2.2 SEM f/l). This may be attributed to the frequently occurrence of heavy traffic, the existence of relevant industries in and around the city, and the topographic characteristics of the city. Thus, product substitution, traffic smoothing and industrial sites relocating are suggested to eliminate the asbestos fibers emission.

• A commentary on Roggli's "The So-Called Short-Fiber Controversy". D. Egilman, T. Tran. 2016;22(3):181-186. PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

  Abstract

  Dr. Victor Roggli republished a "literature review and critical analysis" of the toxicity of short fiber asbestos. His paper was originally prepared and presented at a conference of asbestos defense lawyers. His review omitted published papers that indicate that short fiber asbestos is a carcinogen. We critically review his paper.

• Current and future risks of asbestos exposure in the Australian community. C. Gray, R.N. Carey, A. Reid. 2016;22(4):292-299. PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

  Abstract

  Background: Australia mined asbestos for more than 100 years and manufactured and imported asbestos products. There is a legacy of in situ asbestos throughout the built environment.

  Methods: The aim of this study was to identify the possible sources of current and future asbestos exposure from the built environment. Telephone interviews with environmental health officers, asbestos removalists, and asbestos assessors in Australia sought information about common asbestos scenarios encountered.

  Results: There is a considerable amount of asbestos remaining in situ in the Australian built environment. Potential current and future sources of asbestos exposure to the public are from asbestos-containing roofs and fences, unsafe asbestos removal practices, do-it-yourself home renovations and illegal dumping.

  Conclusion: This research has highlighted a need for consistent approaches in the regulation and enforcement of safe practices for the management and removal of asbestos to ensure that in situ asbestos in the built environment is managed appropriately.

• Environmental asbestos exposure sources in Korea. D.M. Kang, J.E. Kim, J.Y. Kim, et al. 2016;22(4):307-314. PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

  Abstract

  Background: Because of the long asbestos-related disease latencies (10-50 years), detection, diagnosis, and epidemiologic studies require asbestos exposure history. However, environmental asbestos exposure source (EAES) data are lacking.

  Objectives: To survey the available data for past EAES and supplement these data with interviews.

  Methods: We constructed an EAES database using a literature review and interviews of experts, former traders, and workers. Exposure sources by time period and type were visualized using a geographic information system (ArcGIS), web-based mapping (Google Maps), and OpenWeatherMap. The data were mounted in the GIS to show the exposure source location and trend.

  Results: The majority of asbestos mines, factories, and consumption was located in Chungnam; Gyeonggi, Busan, and Gyeongnam; and Gyeonggi, Daejeon, and Busan, respectively. Shipbuilding and repair companies were mostly located in Busan and Gyeongnam.

  Conclusions: These tools might help evaluate past exposure from EAES and estimate the future asbestos burden in Korea.

• Estimating the incidence of malignant mesothelioma in Vietnam: a pilot descriptive cancer registration study. M.J. Soeberg, M.A. Luong, V.T. Tran, et al. 2016;22(2):167-72. PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

  Abstract

  Introduction: Global asbestos consumption has shifted toward lower income countries, particularly in the Asian region including Vietnam where asbestos and asbestos-containing products have been imported since the late 1960s.

  Methods: This pilot descriptive epidemiological study aimed to provide contemporary estimates of malignant mesothelioma incidence (histological subtype M9050/3; ICD-O-3) by gender and age group as recorded across nine cancer registries in Vietnam.

  Results: We identified 148 incident cases of malignant mesothelioma during 1987-2013. The majority of cases were recorded in the Hanoi region (n = 93) and were aged 55 years or older (n = 96).

  Discussion: By carefully reviewing existing cancer registry records in Vietnam, we identified a larger number of malignant mesothelioma cases than previously estimated. We recommend the use of cancer registry data in tracking future asbestos-related disease in Vietnam.

• Lung cancer from asbestos textured ceilings: a case study. J.G. Dahlgren, P.J. Talbott. 2016;22(2):175-8. Case report PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

  Abstract

  Background: Asbestos was used in spray applied textured ceilings from 1945 to at least 1980. Exposure to asbestos and the probability of developing lung disease is high in individuals who lived with these types of ceilings in their home. Asbestos exposure and frequency of disease is even higher in an apartment suffering from flooding, maintenance, and/or multiple structural impacts.

  Purpose: Our goal is to examine a case of lung cancer in a non-smoking individual exposed to asbestos from the damaged acoustic ceilings in her apartment.

  Methods: The subject's medical and occupational records were obtained and reviewed and a physical examination was performed. Exposure ratings were obtained from previous literature for discussion purposes.

  Conclusion: Asbestos-textured ceilings are a possible source of asbestos exposure and there may be a risk of developing cancer in individuals exposed to ceiling deterioration.

• Asbestos in commercial cosmetic talcum powder as a cause of mesothelioma in women. R. Lee, D. Van Orden. 2015;21(4):337-41. Letter · Comment PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

  Summary

  This letter to the editor responded to a 2014 paper by Gordon, Fitzgerald and Millette, published in the same journal, which attributed mesothelioma in women to asbestos in cosmetic talcum powder. The letter's authors worked for RJ Lee Group (Lab D), which was retained by the defendant in ongoing litigation. Gordon et al. had been retained by the plaintiffs. The letter argued that the paper misidentified trace accessory minerals as asbestos. It said the paper relied on visual recognition of electron diffraction (SAED) patterns without the quantitative zone axis analysis that the cited methods require, and disregarded polarized light microscopy findings of no asbestos. It also said the paper did not compare results between laboratories, which varied from nondetect to 202 million fibers per gram on one sample. According to the letter, most counted particles had aspect ratios below 20:1. When the letter's authors re-examined the other laboratories' grids, particles reported as anthophyllite proved to be talc, talc/anthophyllite intergrowths or clays. Of eight relocated particles from the review of Lab D grids, only one, a nonasbestiform tremolite, was correctly identified. The letter stated that asbestos bodies in the lung tissue had aspect ratios over 100:1, unlike the talc particles, and that the paper ignored uncoated amosite fibers in the lung. It also said cited references were misrepresented. The authors concluded that the paper should be withdrawn. Both authors declared participation in talc litigation.

  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.

• Asbestos in commercial cosmetic talcum powder as a cause of mesothelioma in women. R. Gordon, S. Fitzgerald, J. Millette. 2015;21(4):347-8. PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

• Asbestos-related occupational cancers compensated under the Spanish National Insurance System, 1978-2011. M. García-Gómez, A. Menéndez-Navarro, R.C. López. 2015;21(1):31-9. PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

  Abstract

  Background: In 1978, asbestos-related occupational cancers were added to the Spanish list of occupational diseases. However, there are no full accounts of compensated cases since their inclusion.

  Objective: To analyze the cases of asbestos-related cancer recognized as occupational in Spain between 1978 and 2011.

  Methods: Cases were obtained from the Spanish Employment Ministry. Specific incidence rates by year, economic activity, and occupation were obtained. We compared mortality rates of mesothelioma and bronchus and lung cancer mortality in Spain and the European Union.

  Results: Between 1978 and 2011, 164 asbestos-related occupational cancers were recognized in Spain, with a mean annual rate of 0·08 per 10(5) employees (0·13 in males, 0·002 in females). Under-recognition rates were an estimated 93·6% (males) and 99·7% (females) for pleural mesothelioma and 98·8% (males) and 100% (females) for bronchus and lung cancer. In Europe for the year 2000, asbestos-related occupational cancer rates ranged from 0·04 per 10(5) employees in Spain to 7·32 per 10(5) employees in Norway.

  Conclusions: These findings provide evidence of gross under-recognition of asbestos-related occupational cancers in Spain. Future work should investigate cases treated in the National Healthcare System to better establish the impact of asbestos on health in Spain.

• Case report: peritoneal mesothelioma from asbestos in hairdryers. J. Dahlgren, P. Talbott. 2015;21(1):1-4. Case report · Review PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

  Abstract

  Background: The relationship between mesothelioma and exposure to asbestos is well established. As a result, the use of asbestos in buildings, construction sites, and mines, as well as the implications of disease for the workers has received considerable attention. However, asbestos was also used in household equipment and consumer products, including hairdryers.

  Purpose: To examine one case of peritoneal mesothelioma in a hairdresser and review the relevant literature on asbestos exposure from hairdryers.

  Methods: The subject's medical and occupational records were obtained and reviewed and a physical examination was performed.

  Results: The results indicate that the subject developed peritoneal mesothelioma from her occupational exposure to asbestos containing hairdryers in accordance with the literature.

  Conclusion: Hairdryers are possible sources of asbestos exposure in patients with mesothelioma, and the asbestos exposure risk is higher for those who use hairdryers occupationally.

• Diffuse pleural thickening following heart failure-related pleural effusions in an asbestos exposed patient. M. Evison, P. Barber. 2015;21(2):169-71. Case report PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

  Abstract

  Diffuse pleural thickening (DPT) is a well-recognized consequence of asbestos exposure and often follows a benign asbestos-related pleural effusion. At our tertiary center, in the North West of England where the prevalence of asbestos-related pleural disease is high, we have encountered a series of patients that have had led us to consider a new hypothesis in DPT. We postulate that non-asbestos-related pleural effusions, particularly transudative pleural effusions, caused by heart failure can trigger the development of DPT. We present one such case, discuss the limitations of our temporal observations, and invite further discussions from readers.

• Exposure to airborne asbestos in thermal power plants in Mongolia. N. Damiran, E.K. Silbergeld, A. L Frank, et al. 2015;21(3):278. PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

• Exposure to airborne asbestos in thermal power plants in Mongolia. N. Damiran, E.K. Silbergeld, A.L. Frank, et al. 2015;21(2):137-41. PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

  Abstract

  Background: Coal-fired thermal power plants (TPPs) in Mongolia use various types of asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) in thermal insulation of piping systems, furnaces, and other products.

  Objective: To investigate the occupational exposure of insulation workers to airborne asbestos in Mongolian power plants.

  Methods: Forty-seven air samples were collected from four power plants in Mongolia during the progress of insulation work. The samples were analyzed by phase contrast microscopy (PCM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).

  Results: The average phase contrast microscopy equivalent (PCME) asbestos fiber concentration was 0·93 f/cm(3). Sixteen of the 41 personal and one of the area samples exceeded the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (US OSHA) short-term exposure limit of 1·0 f/cm(3). If it is assumed that the short-term samples collected are representative of full-shift exposure, then the exposures are approximately 10 times higher than the US OSHA 8-hour permissible exposure limit of 0·1 f/cm(3).

  Conclusion: Power plant insulation workers are exposed to airborne asbestos at concentrations that exceed the US OSHA Permissible Exposure Limit. Action to mitigate the risks should be taken in Mongolia.

• How conflicted authors undermine the World Health Organization (WHO) campaign to stop all use of asbestos: spotlight on studies showing that chrysotile is carcinogenic and facilitates other non-cancer asbestos-related diseases. X. Baur, C.L. Soskolne, R.A. Lemen, et al. 2015;21(2):176-9. PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

  Abstract

  The silicate mineral asbestos is categorized into two main groups based on fiber structure: serpentine asbestos (chrysotile) and amphibole asbestos (crocidolite, amosite, anthophyllite, tremolite, and actinolite). Chrysotile is used in more than 2 000 applications and is especially prevalent in the construction industry. Although its use is banned or restricted in more than 52 countries, an estimated 107 000 workers die from asbestos exposure each year, and approximately 125 million workers continue to be exposed. Furthermore, ambient exposures persist to which the public is exposed, globally. Today, the primary controversies regarding the use of asbestos are the potencies of different types of asbestos, as opposed whether or not asbestos causes morbidity and mortality. The asbestos industry has promoted and funded research based on selected literature, ignoring both clinical and scientific knowledge. In this piece, we highlight a prominent example of a conflicted publication that sought to undermine the World Health Organization (WHO) campaign to stop the use of all forms of asbestos, including chrysotile asbestos. Independent and rigorous scientific data provide sufficient evidence that chrysotile asbestos, like other forms of asbestos, is a cause of asbestos-related morbidity and premature mortality.

• Mesothelioma in Mongolia: case report. N. Damiran, K. Davaajav, E. Erdenebayar, et al. 2015;21(2):166-8. Case report PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

  Abstract

  Background: More than 80% of cases of mesothelioma worldwide have a history of asbestos exposure. In Mongolia, workers in coal burning thermal power plants (TPP) have widely utilized asbestos as an insulation material.

  Methods: We describe the case of a 47-year-old woman diagnosed with a malignant pleural mesothelioma. She worked in a TPP in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia for 28 years.

  Results: A computer tomography (CT) scan showed a circumferential ring around her left lung, and tissues' samples had a biphasic variant of mesothelioma with epithelioid and sarcomatoid components.

  Discussion: This is the first reported case of mesothelioma in Mongolia. We expect additional cases of mesothelioma, as well as other asbestos related diseases, will be identified in the future. In order to properly track asbestos related diseases in the country, we recommend the creation of an asbestos related disease registry.

• New reports from the NIOSH health hazard evaluation program. 2015;21(2):180-1. PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

• RE: Gordon R, Fitzgerald S, and Millette J. Asbestos in commercial cosmetic talcum powder as a cause of mesothelioma in women. Int J Occup Environ Health. 2014;20(4):318-332. R. Lee, D. Van Orden. 2015:2049396715Y0000000005. PubMed · Publisher

• Response to RE: Gordon R, Fitzgerald S, and Millette J. Asbestos in commercial cosmetic talcum powder as a cause of mesothelioma in women. Int J Occup Environ Health. 2014;20(4):318-332. R.E. Gordon. 2015;21(4):342-6. Letter · Comment PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

  Summary

  In this letter to the editor, Ronald E. Gordon replied, with input from co-authors James Millette and Sean Fitzgerald, to a letter by Dr. Lee and Mr. Van Orden of the R J Lee Group (Lab D). That letter criticized the authors' 2014 paper on asbestos in a brand of cosmetic talcum powder as a cause of mesothelioma in women. Gordon stated that the paper had been peer reviewed and that three of the four laboratories had found asbestos, Lab D being the outlier. He said that later, more sensitive analyses by Lab C confirmed Lab A's findings. He said fibers were identified by morphology, energy dispersive spectroscopy and selected area electron diffraction under accepted agency methods, and that re-examination of RJLG's own grids found countable asbestos structures. He argued that a draft ASTM method should not be relied upon, that polarized light microscopy is inadequate for talc, and that the >20:1 aspect-ratio definition comes from an EPA light-microscopy glossary never officially adopted. He reported that Lab A counted fibers 5 μm or longer, with aspect ratios mostly 15:1 or >20:1. He stated that lung fibers RJLG called amosite were iron- and protein-coated anthophyllite, based on EDS peak heights. He noted that women who used the powder had developed mesothelioma without other known asbestos exposure. The letter disclosed that both letter authors and Gordon were working for attorneys on opposite sides of a civil lawsuit.

  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.

• Asbestos in Belgium: an underestimated health risk. The evolution of mesothelioma mortality rates (1969-2009). L. Van den Borre, P. Deboosere. 2014;20(2):134-40. PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

  Abstract

  Background: Although Belgium was once a major international manufacturer of asbestos products, asbestos-related diseases in the country have remained scarcely researched.

  Objectives: The aim of this study is to provide a descriptive analysis of Belgian mesothelioma mortality rates in order to improve the understanding of asbestos health hazards from an international perspective.

  Methods: Temporal and geographical analyses were performed on cause-specific mortality data (1969-2009) using quantitative demographic measures. Results were compared to recent findings on global mesothelioma deaths.

  Results: Belgium has one of the highest mesothelioma mortality rates in the world, following the UK, Australia, and Italy. With a progressive increase of male mesothelioma deaths in the mid-1980s, large differences in mortality rates between sexes are apparent. Mesothelioma deaths are primarily concentrated in geographic areas with proximity to former asbestos industries.

  Conclusions: Asbestos mortality in Belgium has been underestimated for decades. Our findings suggest that the location of asbestos industries is correlated with rates of mesothelioma, underlining the need to avert future asbestos exposure by thorough screening of potential contaminated sites and by pursuing a global ban on asbestos.

• Asbestos in commercial cosmetic talcum powder as a cause of mesothelioma in women. R.E. Gordon, S. Fitzgerald, J. Millette. 2014;20(4):318-32. PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

  Abstract

  Background: Cosmetic talcum powder products have been used for decades. The inhalation of talc may cause lung fibrosis in the form of granulomatose nodules called talcosis. Exposure to talc has also been suggested as a causative factor in the development of ovarian carcinomas, gynecological tumors, and mesothelioma.

  Purpose: To investigate one historic brand of cosmetic talcum powder associated with mesothelioma in women.

  Methods: Transmission electron microscope (TEM) formvar-coated grids were prepared with concentrations of one brand of talcum powder directly, on filters, from air collections on filters in glovebox and simulated bathroom exposures and human fiber burden analyses. The grids were analyzed on an analytic TEM using energy-dispersive spectrometer (EDS) and selected-area electron diffraction (SAED) to determine asbestos fiber number and type.

  Results: This brand of talcum powder contained asbestos and the application of talcum powder released inhalable asbestos fibers. Lung and lymph node tissues removed at autopsy revealed pleural mesothelioma. Digestions of the tissues were found to contain anthophyllite and tremolite asbestos.

  Discussion: Through many applications of this particular brand of talcum powder, the deceased inhaled asbestos fibers, which then accumulated in her lungs and likely caused or contributed to her mesothelioma as well as other women with the same scenario.

• Asbestos: a continuing failure of ethics by McGill University. K. Ruff. 2014;20(1):1-3. Editorial PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

• Dust diseases and the legacy of corporate manipulation of science and law. D. Egilman, T. Bird, C. Lee. 2014;20(2):115-25. PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

  Abstract

  Background: The dust diseases silicosis and asbestosis were the first occupational diseases to have widespread impact on workers. Knowledge that asbestos and silica were hazardous to health became public several decades after the industry knew of the health concerns. This delay was largely influenced by the interests of Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MetLife) and other asbestos mining and product manufacturing companies.

  Objectives: To understand the ongoing corporate influence on the science and politics of asbestos and silica exposure, including litigation defense strategies related to historical manipulation of science.

  Methods: We examined previously secret corporate documents, depositions and trial testimony produced in litigation; as well as published literature.

  Results: Our analysis indicates that companies that used and produced asbestos have continued and intensified their efforts to alter the asbestos-cancer literature and utilize dust-exposure standards to avoid liability and regulation. Organizations of asbestos product manufacturers delayed the reduction of permissible asbestos exposures by covering up the link between asbestos and cancer. Once the decline of the asbestos industry in the US became inevitable, the companies and their lawyers designed the state of the art (SOA) defense to protect themselves in litigation and to maintain sales to developing countries.

  Conclusions: Asbestos product companies would like the public to believe that there was a legitimate debate surrounding the dangers of asbestos during the twentieth century, particularly regarding the link to cancer, which delayed adequate regulation. The asbestos-cancer link was not a legitimate contestation of science; rather the companies directly manipulated the scientific literature. There is evidence that industry manipulation of scientific literature remains a continuing problem today, resulting in inadequate regulation and compensation and perpetuating otherwise preventable worker and consumer injuries and deaths.

• Authors' reply. Why countries ban asbestos: the roots of political will. J. Bahk, Y. Choi, S. Lim, et al. 2013;19(2):137-8. Comment PubMed · Publisher

• Calculations of risk: regulation and responsibility for asbestos in social housing. L. Waldman, H. Williams. 2013;19(2):91-103. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Objective: This paper examines questions of risk, regulation, and responsibility in relation to asbestos lodged in UK social housing.

  Background: Despite extensive health and safety legislation protecting against industrial exposure, very little regulatory attention is given to asbestos present in domestic homes.

  Conclusion: The paper argues that this lack of regulatory oversight, combined with the informal, contractual, and small-scale work undertaken in domestic homes weakens the basic premise of occupational health and safety, namely that rational decision-making, technical measures, and individual safety behavior lead concerned parties (workers, employers, and others) to minimize risk and exposure. The paper focuses on UK council or social housing, examining how local housing authorities - as landlords - have a duty to provide housing, to protect and to care for residents, but points out that these obligations do not extend to health and safety legislation in relation to DIY undertaken by residents. At the same time, only conventional occupational health and safety, based on rationality, identification, containment, and protective measures, cover itinerant workmen entering these homes. Focusing on asbestos and the way things work in reality, this paper thus explores the degree to which official health and safety regulation can safeguard maintenance and other workers in council homes. It simultaneously examines how councils advise and protect tenants as they occupy and shape their homes. In so doing, this paper challenges the notion of risk as an objective, scientific, and effective measure. In contrast, it demonstrates the ways in which occupational risk - and the choice of appropriate response - is more likely situational and determined by wide-ranging and often contradictory factors.

• Commentary on 'evaluation of take home (para-occupational) exposure to asbestos and disease: a review of the literature', Donovan et al.1. D.S. Egilman, N.M. Druar. 2013;19(3):163-8. Editorial · Comment PubMed · Publisher

• Mesothelioma incidence in 50 states and the District of Columbia, United States, 2003-2008. S.J. Henley, T.C. Larson, M. Wu, et al. 2013;19(1):1-10. PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

  Abstract

  Background: The decline in asbestos use in the United States may impact mesothelioma incidence.

  Objective: This report provides national and state-specific estimates of mesothelioma incidence in the United States using cancer surveillance data for the entire US population.

  Methods: Data from the National Program for Cancer Registries and the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program were used to calculate incidence rates and annual percent change.

  Results: During 2003-2008, an average of 1.05 mesothelioma cases per 100 000 persons were diagnosed annually in the United States; the number of cases diagnosed each year remained level, whereas rates decreased among men and were stable among women.

  Conclusion: US population-based cancer registry data can be used to determine the burden of mesothelioma and track its decline. Even 30 years after peak asbestos use in the United States, 3200 mesothelioma cases are diagnosed annually, showing that the US population is still at risk.

• MetLife and its corporate allies: dust diseases and the manipulation of science. D.S. Egilman, T. Bird, C. Lee. 2013;19(4):287-303. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Background: The dust diseases silicosis and asbestosis were the first occupational diseases to have widespread impact on workers. Knowledge that asbestos and silica were hazardous to health became public long after the industry knew of the health concerns. This delay was largely influenced by the interests of Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MetLife).

  Objectives: To understand how MetLife influenced the science and politics of asbestos and silica exposure in the first half of the twentieth century.

  Methods: We examined previously secret corporate documents produced in litigation, deposition, and trial testimony, as well as published scholarship.

  Results: MetLife established itself as an authority in public and industrial health in the early part of the twentieth century, gaining the trust of the public and government. They were able to use this trust and authority to avoid financial loss, including the firing of sick workers, and avoid legal liability by organizing a network of experts to testify on their behalf in silica- and asbestos-related damage suits. They further manipulated the results of scientific findings from major research institutions, delaying important knowledge about the asbestos-cancer relationship. They also influenced law and public policy through writing and implementing worker compensation laws in numerous states and concocting an arbitrary "protective" standard to monitor asbestos exposure. This standard was known by MetLife to not protect against disease.

  Conclusions: The actions of MetLife and its allies had real human and scientific consequences and an effect on the industry lasting until now.

• The importance of scientific debate. D.S. Egilman. 2013;19(3):157-9. Editorial · Comment PubMed · Publisher

• UN Scientific Agency collaborating with scientists involved in sabotaging UN Rotterdam Convention. K. Ruff. 2013;19(3):160-2. Editorial PubMed · Publisher

• Use of asbestos building materials in Malaysia: legislative measures, the management, and recommendations for a ban on use. I. Safitri Zen, R. Ahamad, K. Gopal Rampal, et al. 2013;19(3):169-78. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Malaysia has partially banned the use of asbestos. The prohibition of asbestos building materials in schools, clinics, and hospitals built by government started in 1999. Since 2005, prohibition has also been applied to all government buildings. However, asbestos construction materials such as roof and ceiling tiles are still sold in the market. There are no acts or regulations prohibiting the use of asbestos in private buildings in Malaysia. Asbestos was first used for industrial purposes in Malaysia in the 1960s and the first regulations related to asbestos have been around since the 1980s. Non-governmental organizations have been pushing the government to impose a total ban since the 1980s. Asbestos is still used in the manufacturing sector under the "control use" concept. The study found difficulties in established and validated medical record data on asbestos-related diseases. This paper reviews existing asbestos-related regulations and guidelines in Malaysia and discusses the urgency for a total ban in the use of asbestos in building materials in the country. In the meanwhile, stricter enforcement of occupational safety and health regulations related to the use and exposure of asbestos among workers in the manufacturing, construction, maintenance, and demolition sectors has been in place.

• War on Carcinogens: industry disputes human relevance of chemicals causing cancer in laboratory animals based on unproven hypotheses, using kidney tumors as an example. R.L. Melnick, J.M. Ward, J. Huff. 2013;19(4):255-60. Editorial PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Evidence from studies in animals is essential for identifying chemicals likely to cause or contribute to many diseases in humans, including cancers. Yet, to avoid or delay the implementation of protective public health standards, the chemical industry typically denies cancer causation by agents they produce. The spurious arguments put forward to discount human relevance are often based on inadequately tested hypotheses or modes of action that fail to meet Bradford Hill criteria for causation. We term the industry attacks on the relevance of animal cancer findings as the "War on Carcinogens." Unfortunately, this tactic has been effective in preventing timely and appropriate health protective actions on many economically important yet carcinogenic chemicals, including: arsenic, asbestos, benzene, 1,3-butadiene, formaldehyde, methylene chloride, phthalates, tobacco usage, trichloroethylene [TCE], and others. Recent examples of the "War on Carcinogens" are chemicals causing kidney cancer in animals. Industry consultants argue that kidney tumor findings in rats with exacerbated chronic progressive nephropathy (CPN) are not relevant to humans exposed to these chemicals. We dispute and dismiss this unsubstantiated claim with data and facts, and divulge unprofessional actions from a leading toxicology journal.

• Why countries ban asbestos: some alternative thoughts. A.L. Frank. 2013;19(2):136. Comment PubMed · Publisher

• Why some, but not all, countries have banned asbestos. J. Bahk, Y. Choi, S. Lim, et al. 2013;19(2):127-35. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Background: Out of 143 countries that consumed asbestos between 2003 and 2007, only 44 have banned asbestos. This study tried to explain why some countries have banned asbestos while others have not, based on a synthesis that asbestos ban policy of a country will rely on a process of cognition of threats and exploration of safer alternatives.

  Method: As we hypothesized that increased social cost of mesothelioma, capacity of health-related infrastructures, and policy diffusion from adjacent countries were related to asbestos ban adoption, published databases of asbestos ban years, mesothelioma mortality, country rankings in health care and human rights standings, and distribution of banning countries over 14 regions were analyzed accordingly.

  Results: The average mesothelioma death rate was significantly higher for countries with asbestos bans than in those with no ban (4·59 versus 1·83/million). No-ban countries had less well-developed health-related infrastructures. Among European countries, there was a tendency toward geographical diffusion of asbestos ban policy from Nordic to Western and then other European countries over the years. Even though aberrant cases were also noted where bans were instituted even without mesothelioma database, these were rather exceptions than rules.

  Conclusion: Risk cognition is a complex process, but the presence of well-functioning health infrastructures, as well as the increased social cost of mesothelioma, that can make the plight of asbestos victims visible to the eyes of public and policy makers, may have contributed to this process. Asbestos ban policy from adjacent countries might have facilitated the adoption of alternative solutions.

• A baseline profile of asbestos in the US-affiliated Pacific Islands. A.M. David, H. Ogawa, K. Takahashi. 2012;18(1):22-8. PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

  Abstract

  Asbestos is a recognized occupational and environmental hazard in the Asia-Pacific region, yet information regarding asbestos consumption, exposure, and asbestos-related diseases in the US-affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPIs) is scarce, and the situation regarding asbestos in these islands, particularly with regard to disease burden, surveillance, and health care capacity, is not well understood. Searching through scientific and "gray" literature and interviews with local cancer registry personnel and health professionals yielded no published data, only sufficient, indirect evidence of past and ongoing asbestos exposure, documented cases of mesothelioma and asbestosis, and minimal capacity for preventing and recognizing asbestos-related illnesses. Capacity and resource limitations within the USAPIs can impede regional progress in asbestos prevention and highlight the need for an integrated regional approach to address these data and capacity gaps. A regional mechanism to share expertise and resources and facilitate technical assistance to the USAPIs is urgently needed.

• A call to action: epidemiologists assert themselves with scientific data. S.H. Weiss. 2012;18(3):167-70. Editorial PubMed · Publisher

  Summary

  This editorial described the Position Statement on Asbestos of the Joint Policy Committee of the Societies of Epidemiology (JPC-SE), released on July 24, 2012, and discussed the role of epidemiologists in policy. The Statement, endorsed by nine epidemiology societies, concluded that all forms of asbestos are harmful and causally related to disease and death, and called for all mining, trade and use of asbestos to cease. In preparing it, expert epidemiologists examined the data, relying heavily on the 2012 International Agency for Research on Cancer evaluation. They also examined asbestos industry claims questioning the link between disease and some forms of asbestos. The author used systems thinking and the economic concept of externalities to argue that regulation, monitoring and enforcement are needed when harms are delayed for decades, as with asbestos. He reported that 64% of asbestos sold in 2011 went to Asian countries, where there is virtually no collection of data on asbestos-related diseases. He also reported that China and India accounted for 46% of 2011 global consumption, and that global production remained at about 2 million metric tonnes per year, with China second behind Russia. He cited articles on asbestos in China in the same issue as supporting the Statement. The author concluded that there is no credible counterpoint on the harms of asbestos and that action should not await further data.

  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.

• An updated review on asbestos and related diseases in China. M.N. Courtice, S. Lin, X. Wang. 2012;18(3):247-53. Review PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Background: Asbestos is an industrial mineral that can cause diseases such as asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma. Asbestos consumption in China has increased steadily since the 1960s and is currently at half a million tonnes per year. Work conditions in the asbestos-related industries are poor and exposure levels frequently exceed the occupational exposure limit.

  Objective: To provide an updated overview on asbestos production and consumption in China and discuss what is known about the resulting burden of asbestos-related diseases.

  Findings: China is the world's top chrysotile consumer and second largest producer. Over a million people may be occupationally exposed, yet reliable disease statistics are unavailable and the national burden of asbestos-related disease (ARD) is not well known. Nevertheless, ARD prevalence, incidence, and mortality are expected to be high and will increase for many decades due to the volume of asbestos consumed historically, and a long latency period.

  Conclusions: Government policies to prevent ARD have been implemented but more actions are necessary to ensure compliance and ultimately, the complete elimination of asbestos to prevent a heavy future disease burden.

• Assessing specific causation of mesothelioma following exposure to chrysotile asbestos-containing brake dust. M.D. Freeman, S.S. Kohles. 2012;18(4):329-36. Review PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Background: The question of whether chrysotile asbestos-containing brake dust can plausibly serve as a cause of mesothelioma in an exposed individual has become a matter of heated debate in the medical literature despite multiple international, federal, and state governmental agencies acknowledging a causal association.

  Objectives: We describe and provide an analysis of various industry and academic perspectives contributing to the debate.

  Methods: A framework is presented for evaluating the general and specific causal relationship between brake dust exposure and mesothelioma utilizing the principles of forensic epidemiology, and by applying the Bradford-Hill criteria.

  Results And Conclusions: We conclude that there is a "net" of evidence favoring a causal relationship between brake dust-associated chrysotile exposure and mesothelioma. The industry-sponsored position that there is insufficient evidence to support a contiguous "chain" of causation is specious from both a methodologic and evidentiary perspective. Finally, we suggest a semiquantitative approach for the evaluation of individual causation in putative cases of mesothelioma with a history of significant brake dust exposure.

• China and the US: asbestos in common. A.L. Frank. 2012;18(3):179-80. Editorial · Comment PubMed · Publisher

• Expression of concern: false claim to be free of conflicts in asbestos biopersistence debate. S.R. Bohme. 2012;18(2):85-8. Letter PubMed · Publisher

  Summary

  In this Expression of Concern, the Deputy Editor of the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health (IJOEH) examined a January 2011 letter by Drs. Kenneth Donaldson and Gunter Oberdörster. That letter had responded to a 2009 article by Henri Pezerat criticising chrysotile asbestos biopersistence studies by Dr. David Bernstein. Its authors had stated that they were not allied to, or funded by, any asbestos manufacturer or pro-asbestos group. The author drew on documents produced in the New York City Asbestos Litigation, including a deposition of Georgia-Pacific (GP) toxicologist Stewart Holm, emails and expert witness designations. She reported that Donaldson had consulted for GP, a former maker of asbestos-containing joint compound, from 2006 to at least 2010. Holm estimated that payment at about $6000. She also reported that GP listed Donaldson as an expert witness and that he co-authored three GP-funded biopersistence papers with Bernstein. The emails indicated that Bernstein, who was not named as an author, supplied information for the letter, wrote that he had 'reworded' it, and forwarded the correspondence to Holm. Donaldson replied that the opinions in the letter were his and Oberdörster's and that Bernstein was not a ghost writer. He apologised for not declaring his GP involvements. The author concluded that the denial of conflicts was a misrepresentation that violated journal policy, ICMJE guidelines and ethical norms. She called on those involved to complete the record.

  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.

• Mesothelioma associated with use of drywall joint compound: a case series and review of literature. J. Dahlgren, T. Peckham. 2012;18(4):337-43. Review PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Background: Drywall joint compound contained asbestos fibers, primarily chrysotile, in the 1950s through the 1970s. Workers in a variety of construction trades and homeowners were exposed to respirable asbestos from the use of these products, including during handling, mixing, sanding, and sweeping. Disturbance of in-place asbesto-containing joint compound continues to be a potential source of exposure during demolition or repair of wallboard. Studies from the 1970s and 1980s report air fiber measurements above current and historic regulatory limits during intended usage, and typical asbestos-related disease in drywall construction workers.

  Objectives: We present three cases of mesothelioma in which the only known exposure to asbestos was from joint compound and review the literature on exposure circumstances, dose and fiber types.

  Conclusions: Physicians treating mesothelioma patients should obtain a history of exposure to these products during work or home remodeling.

• Quebec and Canadian governments end their historic support of the asbestos industry. K. Ruff. 2012;18(4):263-7. Editorial PubMed · Publisher

• Sense of control and wellbeing decades after exposure to blue asbestos at Wittenoom, Western Australia. A. Reid, H. Alfonso, J.S. Ti, et al. 2012;18(2):116-23. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the impact of the knowledge of past asbestos exposure on psychosocial health.

  Methods: Blue asbestos was mined and milled at Wittenoom in Western Australia between 1943 and 1966. In 2007, SF-12 and Locus of Control (LOC) questionnaires were sent to 5,101 surviving Wittenoom workers and residents. Wellbeing scores and LOC scores were then examined in relation to quantitative exposure measures using linear regression.

  Results: Wellbeing scores were lower among Wittenoom workers and residents compared with the Western Australian population, although an exposure-response relationship with cumulative asbestos exposure was not found. Those who arrived in Wittenoom as children had a more external sense of control than those who arrived there as adults. There was a 0·12 increase in LOC with a 2·7-fold increase in cumulative asbestos exposure (f/ml-years) (P<0·01).

  Conclusions: The study concluded that asbestos operation at Wittenoom may have had a detrimental impact on former workers' and residents' sense of control over their lives.

• Survey of environmental exposure to asbestos in the town of Buyuktatlar, Turkey. N. Köksal, M. Çelik, H. Kahraman, et al. 2012;18(2):130-4. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Asbestos-related cases admitted to Chest Diseases Clinic of Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam University Medical Faculty generally came from Buyuktatlar, a town adjacent to the Afsin district of Kahramanmaraş city. This led us to screen for lung pathologies due to exposure to environmental asbestos in the town of Buyuktatlar. Six hundred and eighty-five inhabitants older than 30 years living in the town were identified as the study group and 488 persons (71·2%) were accepted for evaluation. Then, chest X-rays of these cases were taken and bilateral pleural plaque, bilateral pleural thickening, reticular lung infiltrations, and costophrenic angle obliteration were evaluated as asbestos-related disorders (ARD). ARD were diagnosed in 56 (11·5%) of the 488 chest X-rays that were assessed and no differences were observed between genders. Twenty-five of the cases were investigated by high-resolution computed tomography. Twenty-four were confirmed as ARD. In addition, chrysotile fiber was found in two of four soil samples taken from the town.

• Asbestos-related disease in Bangladeshi ship breakers: a pilot study. M.N. Courtice, P.A. Demers, T.K. Takaro, et al. 2011;17(2):144-53. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  A pilot study tested the feasibility of conducting occupational health research in Bangladesh while examining prevalence of asbestos-related diseases including asbestosis, work-related respiratory symptoms, and attitudes to occupational health and safety among a group of internal migrant ship breakers. Data was collected on clinical and work history, respiratory symptoms, and occupational health and safety practices in Bengali. A B-reader read all postero-anterior chest x-rays. In the 104 male ship breakers studied, prevalence of asbestos-related disease was 12%, of which asbestosis accounted for 6%. Knowledge of asbestos and occupational health and safety measures were almost nonexistent. The prevalence of asbestos-related diseases is low compared to studies in shipbuilders and repairers, but a risk underestimate could have resulted from challenges identified during study design and implementation including: industry noncooperation and a culture of corruption; technological and language barriers; and a regional lack of physician knowledge and research on occupational diseases.

• Continued controversy on chrysotile biopersistence. K. Donaldson, G. Oberdörster. 2011;17(1):98-9; discussion 99-102. Comment · Letter PubMed · Publisher

  Summary

  In this letter, Donaldson and Oberdörster responded to Henri Pezerat's 2009 article "Chrysotile biopersistence: The misuse of biased studies," which had questioned Dr. Bernstein's inhalation studies reporting short lung half-times for chrysotile. The authors stated that fiber pathogenicity follows a single paradigm in which long, thin, biopersistent fibers are central. They argued that the chrysotile in both the Bernstein studies and the contrasting Coin study had been pre-treated, and that pre-treatment is common and necessary to produce a respirable cloud. They added that chrysotile from different deposits differs in composition, for example in Al content varying by a factor of 5. They noted that Bernstein had reported half-lives from 1/3 day to 11.4 days in different samples. They called for a side-by-side comparison of the samples rather than suspicion of personal bias. In a reply, the journal's editor, David Egilman, noted that Pezerat had died. He argued that "short" fibers and "biopersistence" were not consistently defined, and that short chrysotile fibers predominate in the human pleura. He stated that Bernstein reported clearance half-times of 11.4 days for fibers longer than 20 µm but 108.4 days for fibers shorter than 5 µm. He argued that the three studies the letter cited did not support the biopersistence theory and that sample preparation alters fiber toxicity. He proposed defining short fibers as those under 5 µm. He stated that Donaldson consulted for DuPont on Kevlar.

  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.

• Mesothelioma in an individual following exposure to crocidolite-containing gaskets as a teenager. R.F. Dodson, S.P. Hammar, L.W. Poye. 2011;17(3):190-4. Case report PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Mesothelioma is considered a signal tumor for asbestos exposure and typically occurs decades after first exposure to asbestos. Tissue analysis often indicates past exposure to mixed types of asbestos. This report describes the case of a 58-year-old man who developed mesothelioma after reported exposure to crocidolite from asbestos-containing gaskets beginning at age 16 during three summers during high school and for approximately four hours per day during the last semester of his senior year. He had no further known exposure to asbestos. Analytical transmission electron microscopy analysis of digested tissue samples revealed elevated levels of crocidolite asbestos fibers and the presence of crocidolite cored ferruginous bodies. This case is unique in that it establishes that relatively short and/or intense exposures to crocidolite asbestos traumatically released from a previously classified Category 1 nonfriable asbestos-containing material (NESHAP) was confirmed via tissue burden analysis years following the historically defined exposures.

• Stop Canadian death export of asbestos. P. Leuprecht. 2011;17(3):285-6. Editorial PubMed · Publisher

• Asbestos is still with us: repeat call for a universal ban. Collegium Ramazzini. 2010;16(3):351-5. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  All forms of asbestos are proven human carcinogens, causing malignant mesothelioma and a host of other types of cancers. No exposure to asbestos is without risk; there is no safe threshold of exposure to asbestos. When evidence of the carcinogenicity of asbestos became incontrovertible, a worldwide ban was called for on asbestos use, mining, and manufacturing. Asbestos is now banned in 52 countries. Nonetheless, many countries still use, import, and export asbestos and asbestos-containing products; many countries that have banned other forms of asbestos still permit the use of chrysotile asbestos. This exemption has no basis in medical science, but reflects the political and economic influence of the asbestos industry. To protect the health of all people, the Collegium Ramazzini calls again on all countries of the world to join in the international endeavor to ban all forms of asbestos. An international ban on asbestos is urgently needed.

• Increased risk of lung cancer mortality among residents near an asbestos product manufacturing plant. S. Kumagai, N. Kurumatani, T. Tsuda, et al. 2010;16(3):268-78. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  We investigated whether individuals exposed to asbestos by living near an asbestos-manufacturing facility experienced increased lung cancer mortality. We studied a neighborhood around such a plant in the central Japanese city of Hashima. From 1943 to 1991 this plant produced insulation and packing material using amosite- and chrysotile-type asbestos fibers. The study group was comprised of 577 households. We obtained demographic information by a questionnaire and determined the underlying cause of death for deceased household members from death certificates. Using hourly meteorological data from local observatories, we estimated relative asbestos concentrations in the plant's vicinity, determined the quartile boundaries, and designated each study subject's quartile of ambient exposure. Finally, we calculated standardized mortality ratios to evaluate the association of residential asbestos with lung cancer risk. Our findings strongly suggest that neighborhood asbestos exposure can increase the risk of lung cancer mortality in men and probably in women.

• Libby trial ends but asbestos hazards remain in buildings. P. Gottesfeld. 2010;16(1):87-8. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  The largest criminal trial ever involving environmental hazards came to a close in early May, but the dangers from the asbestos-containing materials mined in Libby, Montana that were the subject of the case continue to go unregulated. The jury's decision finding all defendants not guilty does not diminish the need to protect workers and the public from this hazard. Instead the trial highlighted the U.S. government's continuing failure to regulate these materials.

• Zonolite attic insulation exposure studies. W.M. Ewing, S.M. Hays, R. Hatfield, et al. 2010;16(3):279-90. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Several studies were designed and conducted to evaluate amphibole asbestos exposures in homes containing Zonolite (expanded vermiculite) attic insulation (ZAI). A range of tasks selected for evaluation included cleaning, working around, moving, and removal of ZAI in attics and living spaces. The fieldwork for these studies was conducted at two homes in Spokane, WA and one home in Silver Spring, MD. Personal and area air samples were collected and analyzed as part of the exposure studies. Surface dust samples and bulk samples were also collected and analyzed. The results demonstrated that airborne concentrations of amphibole asbestos were not elevated if the material is undisturbed. The results also demonstrated that cleaning, remodeling, and other activities did produce significant concentrations of airborne amphibole asbestos when the ZAI was disturbed.

2000s

• Chrysotile biopersistence: the misuse of biased studies. H. Pezerat. 2009;15(1):102-6. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Although it is widely accepted that exposure to any asbestos type can increase the likelihood of lung cancer, mesothelioma, and non-malignant lung and pleural disorders, manufacturers and some chrysotile miners' unions contend that chrysotile either does not cause disease or that there is insufficient evidence to reach a conclusion. At the same time, Dr. D.M. Bernstein has published several animal studies, financed by the Québec Chrysotile Institute, to determine chrysotile biopersistence in the lungs. Bernstein's study protocol induces a very short fiber half-life, from which he concludes weak chrysotile carcinogenicity. Bernstein's findings contradict results obtained by independent scientists. Bernstein's results can only be explained by an aggressive pre-treatment of fibers, inducing many faults and fragility in the fibers' structure, leading to rapid hydration and breaking of long fibers in the lungs.

• Clinical presentation of asbestosis with intractable pleural pain in the adult child of a taconite miner and radiographic demonstration of the probable pathology causing the pain. M.R. Harbut, C. Endress, J.J. Graff, et al. 2009;15(3):269-73. Case report PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Taconite, although not classified by the United States Government as asbestos or asbestiform material, has been associated with asbestos-related diseases. The mineral is used in the production of steel and as a road-patch material and is mined in Michigan and Minnesota. This report describes the case of a middle-aged Caucasian woman with exposure to taconite mining dust from her miner father's clothing in childhood with a resultant presentation consistent with asbestosis and intractable pleural pain. Intractable pleural pain has been described in asbestos-exposed patients with theorized etiologies. However, no in vivo reported mechanism has demonstrated a plausible, anatomically apparent mechanism for the pain. We utilize an application of the Vitrea software for enhancement of high-resolution computerized tomography which demonstrates at least one likely mechanism for intractable pleural pain.

• Fiber types, asbestos potency, and environmental causation: a peer review of published work and legal and regulatory scientific testimony. D. Egilman. 2009;15(2):202-28. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Scientific evidence and analysis offered in litigation and public policy testimony have an important role in occupational and environmental health, but are not subject to peer review. Critique and commentary, attempts at reproduction of results, and review of data offered in such testimony is essential. Peer review of such testimony should become part of the domain of medical and scientific journals. This paper is an effort to peer review the use of certain scientific methods in tort litigation and in testimony before regulatory agencies. In this issue of IJOEH, Azuma et al. show that background asbestos exposures can be considered to have caused mesothelioma. In contrast, epidemiologic studies and testimony by Teta et al. and Price and Ware, and pathologic studies and testimony by Roggli and others, claim that background exposures are benign. These are fatally flawed because of methodological and analytic errors.

• Ford, General Motors, Chrysler, asbestos, and a "sane appreciation of the risks". D. Egilman. 2009;15(1):109-10. Editorial PubMed · Publisher

• Inaccuracies in article on mesothelioma in brake workers. P.A. Hessel. 2009;15(2):232-4; author reply 234-8. Comment · Letter PubMed · Publisher

• Mesothelioma risk and environmental exposure to asbestos: past and future trends in Japan. K. Azuma, I. Uchiyama, Y. Chiba, et al. 2009;15(2):166-72. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Although asbestos has been widely distributed in the environment, health risks due to general environmental exposure to asbestos have not been estimated. Future mesothelioma risk from environmental exposure to asbestos in Japan was estimated by comparing historical exposure data and mortality attributed to environmental exposure. We developed an equation to estimate environmentally-attributable mesothelioma based on the US Environmental Protection Agency's model for occupational mesothelioma mortality. Based on our calculations, mesothelioma risks per year of exposure will reach peak levels in 2033 and range from 4.8 x 10(-6) to 1.1 x 10(-5). The number of deaths is estimated to range from 542-1276 in 2033. The cumulative number of deaths will reach around 17,000-37,000 in the years 1970-2070. Our estimation of risk approximately corresponded to observed risks. Past and predicted future disease suggest the need for social and medical support in these areas.

• Clarification on mesothelioma rates in Ontario. J. Payne, E. Pichora. 2008;14(2):157-8. Comment · Letter PubMed · Publisher

• IAOH denies industry influence. S.M. Shanbhag. 2008;14(2):159. Letter · Comment PubMed · Publisher

• Industry influence on IAOH. T.K. Joshi. 2008;14(1):82. Letter PubMed · Publisher

• International jurisprudence on trade and environmental health: one step forward, two steps back?. K. Timmermans. 2008;14(4):307-16. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Since the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO), there has been considerable debate regarding the impact of its rules on public health. By contrast, the role of the WTO dispute settlement mechanism has received little attention, even though the bodies responsible for settling disputes are the ultimate interpreters of WTO rules and agreements. To date, three WTO disputes that relate to occupational and/or environmental health have been fully litigated. A review of the decisions and reasoning in these cases indicates that WTO jurisprudence is evolving, as Panels and the Appellate Body try--with varying degrees of success--to balance countries' rights and obligations under international trade agreements with their right to protect occupational and environmental health. Disputes between nations can have an impact beyond the parties concerned, and raise questions about the relationship between trade agreements and other international agreements, especially multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs).

• Mesothelioma mortality in Brazil, 1980-2003. F. Pedra, A.T. Tambellini, B. Pereira Bde, et al. 2008;14(3):170-5. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Although asbestos causes asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma, it remains widely used in Brazil, mostly in cement-fiber products. We report the Brazilian mesothelioma mortality trend 1980-2003, using records of the national System of Mortality Information of DATASUS, including all deaths with IX International Disease Classification (ICD9) codes 163.n--pleura cancer during the period 1980-1995; and ICD10 codes c45.n--mesotheliomas and c38.4--pleura cancer for the years 1996-2003. Mesothelioma mortality rates increased over the period studied, from 0.56 to 1.01 deaths per 1,000,000 [corrected] habitants. The total number of mesothelioma deaths nationwide in the period studied was 2,414; the majority (1,415) were in the Southeast region. Mortality was highest among males and people over age 65. Given the history of asbestos exposure in Brazil, our findings support the need for policies that limit or ban the use of this product.

• The defence of chrysotile, 1912-2007. M. Greenberg. 2008;14(1):57-66. Historical article PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  The commercial exploitation of asbestos may be dated from the late 1870s, when Canada was the major world source. Reports of severe and fatal respiratory disease in workers in asbestos factories appeared in Britain (1898, 1906), and in France (1906) and Italy (1908). In 1912 the Canadian Department of Labour denied that the health of Quebec's millers and miners was affected. A series of denials appeared for over 40 years, until in 1955 a Thetford Mines medical officer reported finding that between 1945 and 1953, among some 4,000 asbestos workers 128 had asbestosis of various degrees of severity, 121 diagnosed radiographically, and 33 confirmed at autopsy. Although a committee of inquiry into health in the asbestos industry (1976), and a Royal Commission on health and safety arising in the use of asbestos in Ontario (1984) confirmed that disease had occurred, these findings were to have no adverse effects on asbestos exports. Rather, the inquiries constituted elements in the industry's successful public relations exercise that continues to operate to this day. Even when an increasing number of national bodies have legislated for total bans on asbestos use, a policy with which all the international bodies concerned with public health agree, the Canadian PR apparatus continues to be able to call on physicians and scientists prepared to oppose the consensuses reached by the independent advisors to these bodies.

• Trends in occupational asbestos exposure and asbestos consumption over recent decades in Korea. D. Park, S. Choi, K. Ryu, et al. 2008;14(1):18-24. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  In Korea, national statistics for asbestos exposure levels covering various asbestos industries and associated with specific years have never been published. The authors analyzed 2,089 asbestos exposure data sets compiled from 1995 through 2006. Exposure levels were characterized according to type of asbestos industry and year. Asbestos exposure levels have decreased over time, dropping sharply from 0.92 fibers/cc (f/cc) in 1996 to 0.60 f/cc in 1997, to 0.19 f/cc in 1998, and to 0.06 f/cc in 1999, possibly in part because of enforcement of 1997 legislation banning the use of amosite and crocidolite. In particular, a substantial reduction in asbestos exposure levels was most evident among primary industries handling raw asbestos directly. A similar relationship was found between a significant decline in asbestos consumption volume and the timing of regulation enforcement.

• Yokohama declaration for fair and equal compensation for all asbestos victims and their families. B. Terracini. 2008;14(1):67. PubMed · Publisher

• Asbestos exposure causes mesothelioma, but not this asbestos exposure: an amicus brief to the Michigan Supreme Court. L.S. Welch. 2007;13(3):318-27. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Manufacturers of asbestos brakes, supported by many manufacturing and insurance industry amicus curie, requested the Michigan Supreme Court to dismiss testimony of an expert regarding the ability of asbestos dust from brakes to cause mesothelioma as "junk science". Scientists are concerned with the sweeping and unequivocal claims that any conclusion that asbestos from brakes caused a signature asbestos-related disease in a particular person must be "junk science". The manufacturers' sweeping pronouncements are what veer from accepted, reliable mainstream scientific methods and conclusions. This article outlines the evidence supporting the conclusion that asbestos from brakes can and does cause mesothelioma, and describes the defendants' attempts to fabricate doubt about this conclusion.

• Ban on asbestos diaphragms in the chlorine-related chemical industry and efforts toward a worldwide ban. F. Giannasi. 2007;13(1):80-4; discussion 84. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  The EU Directive 1999/77/EC, prohibiting new applications of chrysotile, exempted diaphragms used in electrolysis to produce chorine and caustic soda in existing chlor-alkali plants until they reach the end of their service life, or until suitable asbestos-free substitutes become available, whichever is sooner. There is no technical justification for extending this exemption after January 2008, when it is scheduled for review. Economic interests should not take precedence over the social and environmental costs imposed by the asbestos production required for this industry. The EU Scientific Committee on Toxicity, Ecotoxicity and the Environment should not further delay the necessary decision on a total and immediate worldwide ban of the mining, manufacturing, and all uses of asbestos.

• Canada's asbestos legacy at home and abroad. J.T. Brophy, M.M. Keith, J. Schieman. 2007;13(2):236-43. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Despite international efforts to block Canada's export of asbestos, the Canadian federal government continues to defend the economic interests of the asbestos industry. Ironically, Canadian asbestos miners, mill workers, and those engaged in a wide range of other occupations continue to suffer asbestos-related disease and premature death. Although there is an employer-funded compensation system in each province, many workers with mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases remain uncompensated. The export of Canadian asbestos to developing countries sets the stage for another preventable occupational disease epidemic that will manifest over the coming decades. There is growing support from the Canadian labor movement for an end to asbestos exportation and for a just transition strategy for the asbestos workers and their communities.

• Canada's asbestos legacy. W. Charney. 2007;13(4):451. Comment · Letter PubMed · Publisher

• Exploratory sampling of asbestos in residences near Thetford Mines: the public health threat in Quebec. M. Marier, W. Charney, R. Rousseau, et al. 2007;13(4):386-97. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  In 2003-2004, the Asbestos Victims Association of Quebec undertook an exploratory sampling of the air and soil in the residential community of asbestos mining towns. In the 26 houses in the Thetford Mines area, 28 air samples were collected; one outdoor air sample was collected; 14 soil samples were taken; one dust sample was taken from a windowsill. The AHERA criterion was exceeded in 15 of the 28 air samples collected and the World Trade Center criterion was exceeded in five of 26 cases. The risk of developing asbestos-related cancer following such in-home exposures over 30 years is estimated at 1 in 10,000. Soil from the driveways or backyards of nine homes was covered with residue from a tailing pile. Of 14 samples, seven had chrysotile content in excess of 10%; in three, content exceeded 60%, and one reached 100%. Dust from the windowsill had a chrysotile content of 1.2 million structures of all lengths/sq cm. These results suggest a real public health threat in the Quebec mining areas.

• Protest and survive, the U.K. Construction Safety Campaign: a case study of workers' and victims' family action and legal and regulatory inaction on construction health and safety. M. Holder, T. O'Brien. 2007;13(1):27-31. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  The U.K. Construction Safety Campaign, based on grass-roots rank-and-file trade union activity, has both a domestic agenda and a wider sphere with regard to international developments. Using organized protests and media exposure to achieve its ends, the Campaign has contributed substantially to reducing injuries and fatalities in the U.K. construction industry, as well as achieving some justice for victims of the industry's neglect of safe management practices.

• The Rochdale asbestos cancer studies and the politics of epidemiology: what you see depends on where you sit. G. Tweedale. 2007;13(1):70-9. Historical article PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  The history of the exploitation of epidemiology by the U.K. asbestos industry and the subsequent obscuring of the disastrous results of exposures is presented, exploring in particular the roles of Sir Richard Doll and his colleagues. Epidemiology, often regarded as a neutral science, is susceptible to socio-political influences.

• The role of asbestos fiber dimensions in the prevention of mesothelioma. L. Tomatis, S. Cantoni, F. Carnevale, et al. 2007;13(1):64-9. Review PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  A recent interpretation of the pathogenetic role of asbestos fiber size in the development of mesothelioma and in the possibility of mesothelioma prevention needs clarification. This point of view is based on a biased interpretation of the literature. Epidemiologic, experimental, and molecular evidence suggests that the arguments for the role of fiber size relative to dose, dose-response effect, and genetic susceptibility are scientifically unsound. Their proponent also states that means available in the past for the implementation of dust-control measures and/or personal protective equipment would not have contributed to reducing the frequency of mesothelioma among exposed subjects, an argument again based on invalid assumptions.

• Asbestos exposures during reprocessing of automobile brakes and clutches. K. Sakai, N. Hisanaga, E. Shibata, et al. 2006;12(2):95-105. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Asbestos exposures of workers in three small factories reprocessing automobile brakes and clutches in Japan were investigated. Airborne asbestos was collected on a membrane filter using an air sampler. From 1982 to 1989, asbestos counting was performed on 295 samples (198 personal and 97 stationary), using phase contrast microscopy. Only chrysotile asbestos was detected. Workers who reprocessed automobile brakes and clutches were exposed to asbestos concentrations of 0.025-76.4 fibers/cm3. Geometric mean asbestos concentrations during attaching linings to brake shoes and attaching facings to clutch disks were 0.859 fibers/cm3 and 0.780 fibers/cm3, respectively. Concentrations during stripping worn brake linings and clutch facings were 0.484 fibers/cm3 and 0.382 fibers/cm3, respectively. Machine grinding and leveling of new brake-lining surfaces represent potential sources of heavy asbestos exposures, unless enclosures and local ventilation are efficient.

• Banning asbestos in Asia: campaigns and strategies by the Asian Network for the Rights of Occupational Accident Victims (ANROAV). S. Pandita. 2006;12(3):248-53. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  China, India, Indonesia, and Thailand are among the largest consumers of asbestos. Because markets in the West are dwindling, asbestos is heavily promoted in Asia. In spite of widespread usage, asbestos-related diseases are surprisingly few and reported cases of mesothelioma are rare in Asia except in Japan, Korea, and Singapore. The problem lies in diagnosis. Most of the asbestos-related diseases are not diagnosed in Asia and thus do not appear in government statistics. This deadly substance is killing workers. Unless drastic action is taken to stop its use, Asian workers as well as the general population will pay a heavy price.

• Differential peeky bias. D.S. Egilman, M.A. Billings. 2006;12(3):294. Letter PubMed · Publisher

  Summary

  In this letter to the editor, the authors responded to issues raised by legal counsel for automobile manufacturers about their 2005 paper, "Abuse of Epidemiology: Automobile Manufacturers Manufacture a Defense to Asbestos Liability." First, they clarified that the figure they had quoted from McDonald et al., 0.4 mesothelioma cases per 1,000 in chrysotile asbestos factories, was deaths per 1,000 deaths. At Chrysler counsel's suggestion, they compared it with United States data for 1979, the earliest year available, which showed 0.18 mesothelioma deaths per 1,000 deaths. They stated that this was less than half the McDonald rate and supported their earlier conclusion that the McDonald rate was more than double the expected rate. Second, they noted that McDonald and McDonald gave two conflicting descriptions of the exposure period studied: up to 10 years before death, and 10 or more years before death. They argued that either way the data included a ten-year period in which few mesotheliomas would be expected, which would have diluted any effect. Third, they corrected their description of the scoring scale in the Goodman et al. meta-analysis. They reported that the highest-scoring study was Teschke's (5 of 8), not Hessel et al.'s (4). They stated that Goodman et al. sought extra exposure information from some but not all study authors and used it to exclude two studies unfavorable to their sponsors. One example was Malker et al., which reported the highest relative risk for mechanics (2.4). The authors named this error "differential peeky bias."

  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.

• FIOH-sponsored newsletter misrepresents asbestos hazards in Zimbabwe. J.C. Bailar, S.G. Ballal, M. Boback, et al. 2006;12(3):254-8. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  The Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (FIOH) has received support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labor Office (ILO) to publish the African Newsletter on Occupational Health and Safety. The African Newsletter on Occupational Health and Safety should not be a medium for industry propaganda, or the source of misinformation among the workers of Africa. Instead, FIOH should provide the same level of scientific information in Africa that it does in Finland and other developed countries.

• Malignant mesothelioma mortality in the United States, 1999-2001. K.M. Bang, G.A. Pinheiro, J.M. Wood, et al. 2006;12(1):9-15. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Malignant mesothelioma is strongly associated with asbestos exposure. This paper describes demographic, geographic, and occupational distributions of mesothelioma mortality in the United States, 1999-2001. The data (n = 7,524) were obtained from the National Center for Health Statistics multiple-cause-of-death records. Mortality rates (per million per year) were age-adjusted to the 2000 U.S. standard population, and proportionate mortality ratios (PMRs) were calculated by occupation and industry, and adjusted for age, sex, and race. The overall age-adjusted mortality rate was 11.52, with males (22.34) showing a sixfold higher rate than females (3.94). Geographic distribution of mesothelioma mortality is predominantly coastal. Occupations with significantly elevated PMRs included plumbers/pipefitters and mechanical engineers. Industries with significantly elevated PMRs included ship and boat building and repairing, and industrial and miscellaneous chemicals. These surveillance findings can be useful in generating hypotheses and developing strategies to prevent mesothelioma.

• Scientific method questioned. D.J. Paustenbach. 2006;12(3):290-2; author reply 292-3. Comment · Letter PubMed · Publisher

• Setting the record straight. K. Crump. 2006;12(2):180-1; author reply 182-6. Comment · Letter PubMed · Publisher

• Status of occupational cancer in Lithuania. R. Everatt, R. Jankauskas, A. Kuciauskaité. 2006;12(1):24-7. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Because industrialization in Lithuania started only about 50 years ago, occupational cancer is only now becoming an important issue. This article describes the situation of occupational cancer in Lithuania: research, exposures to carcinogens, regulation, and legal practice. Epidemiologic studies of work-related cancers have shown increased risks among cement, textile, and asbestos-cement workers. In 1997, 28% of employed workers in Lithuania were exposed to carcinogens. A legislation system regulating exposures to carcinogens, harmonized with European Directives, has recently been created. In 1995-2003, there were 5,652 new cases of occupational diseases. However, occupational cancers are seriously underdiagnosed--only one case of cancer was diagnosed as occupational. Establishment of a system that would enable diagnosis, certification, and compensation of cases of occupational neoplasms is essential in Lithuania.

• Abuse of epidemiology: automobile manufacturers manufacture a defense to asbestos liability. D.S. Egilman, M.A. Billings. 2005;11(4):360-71. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Much of the "debate" about the relationship between asbestos exposure from automobile brake work and asbestos-induced cancer has been fueled by studies that have been funded by corporations with billions at stake in tort litigation. The authors explore how asbestos-lined brake manufacturers have corrupted medical literature to escape liability, analyzing studies funded by these companies to enable them to claim that work with asbestos brake linings never causes mesothelioma. They reveal how the companies have redefined scientific criteria for the determination of cause-effect relationships and manipulated scientific data to give the impression of an absence of effect. But the absence of evidence is not evidence of the absence of an effect.

• Asbestos and peritoneal mesothelioma among college-educated men. L.S. Welch, Y.I. Acherman, E. Haile, et al. 2005;11(3):254-8. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  The proportion of peritoneal mesotheliomas among all mesotheliomas has been decreasing, leading some to suggest that peritoneal mesothelioma occurs only after high levels of exposure to asbestos. To investigate the relationship between asbestos exposure and the development of peritoneal mesothelioma, a case-control study examined 40 cases of primary peritoneal mesothelioma from a single institution. This series differed from previous reports in that 75% of the cases and controls had attended college. Results show an odds ratio of 6.6 for asbestos exposure among this group of primary peritoneal mesothelioma cases with relatively slight asbestos exposures.

• Asbestos-related diseases in Italy: epidemiologic evidences and public health issues. P. Comba, E. Merler, R. Pasetto. 2005;11(1):36-44. Review PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Epidemiologic information about asbestos-related diseases in Italy, derived from mortality data, epidemiologic surveillance, and analytical studies, is presented. These systems evidence exposures to asbestos and relative risks for populations exposed in work environments and also in the general environment, and provide objective data to identify sources of exposure and for risk management. Limitations and perspectives of Italian studies are considered, and public health issues evaluated: the risk for migrants, social security aspects, and asbestos-related disease in the courts. Although asbestos use was banned in 1992, information and risk communication efforts should be implemented to empower affected individuals and communities and to pursue equitable allocation of resources for primary prevention and health surveillance.

• Late industrial development and occupational health in southern Italy. G. Assennato, L. Bisceglia, G. De Nichilo, et al. 2005;11(1):82-7. Historical article PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  The authors report the occupational medicine problems in the Apulia region, which are representative of those in Southern Italy. Late industrialization was associated with an early peak in injuries that was not associated with an increased workforce. Examples of operations adversely affecting worker and population health are presented.

• Mining and mendacity, or how to keep a toxic product in the marketplace. J. McCulloch. 2005;11(4):398-403. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  The corruption of medical evidence about the hazards of asbestos began with the Canadian mines. Quebec at one time boasted ten of the 13 mines in Canada. Work conditions in the mines were harsh, and the mills were full of airborne fiber. Given the size of the industry, the Quebec mines were where occupational asbestosis should first have been identified, but research at the mines was done in company towns, where clinics were staffed by company doctors. Since the late 1920s U.S. parent companies and their Canadian subsidiaries have maintained that there is little if any disease among mine workers. Asbestosis in textile workers, they have claimed, has been due to the conditions in that industry and not the inherent dangers of asbestos. That fiction continues to shape the discourse about the usefulness of asbestos.

• Occupational cancer in a Paris suburb: first results of a proactive research study in Seine Saint-Denis. Reseau "Surveiller les Cancers D'origine Professionnelle en Seine, Saint-Denis" Reseau SCOP 93. 2005;11(3):263-75. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  A multidisciplinary network, SCOP 93, investigated cancer patients in three hospitals in a Paris suburb that has an unusually high incidence of cancers, to identify those who had been exposed to occupational carcinogens, assess the adequacy of the French system for their compensation, and help develop priorities for prevention. In 2002-2003, 175 patients were interviewed, of whom 127 provided job histories. Of these, 74% of 107 men and 70% of 20 women were deemed likely to have occupational cancers, half of them following exposures to at least three different carcinogens. The network team prepared claims for the 26 patients whose cancers were potentially compensable by the rigid rules of the system; 21 of them, most of whom had cancers attributable to asbestos, received compensation. Suggestions for improving the system for compensation of occupational cancer victims in France are offered.

• The James Hardie story: asbestos victims' claims evaded by manufacturer. B. Hills. 2005;11(2):212-4. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  The Australian government is pursuing legal avenues to bring to financial accountability giant asbestos manufacturer James Hardie Ltd., which has been responsible for vast numbers of asbestos-related deaths and illnesses in Australia and other countries, and has been attempting by unethical and possibly criminal ploys to avoid compensating victims.

• Asbestos banned in Argentina. E.J. Rodriguez. 2004;10(2):202-8. Review PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  In 1997, Argentina gave priority to asbestos in its National Plan for the Sound Management of Chemicals, and it was the subject of a Technical Task Force on Occupational Cancer. After five years of public hearings in which government, workers, industry advocates, environmentalists, clinicians, scientists, and consumers participated, it was agreed that asbestos exposure is a risk factor for both workers and the general population, and that Argentina should provide to its people the same protections adopted by many developed countries. Pressure from asbestos industry groups initially delayed the inclusion of chrysotile asbestos in the proposed ban, but on January 1, 2003, the mining and import of all forms of asbestos were banned in Argentina.

• Asbestos dispatches. L. Kazan-Allen. 2004;10(2):111-20. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  As the global campaign to ban asbestos gathers momentum, more countries and organizations are restricting the use of chrysotile (white asbestos). Attempting to reverse the fall in global demand, asbestos stakeholders have redoubled marketing efforts in countries such as India where health and safety regulations are not strictly enforced. In the Canadian asbestos heartland, public and media awareness has grown and industry's influence has weakened. In response, chrysotile producers are pressing federal and provincial governments for mandatory increases in consumption, despite new research documenting an asbestos cancer epidemic.

• Asbestos in Italy. D. Degiovanni, B. Pesce, N. Pondrano. 2004;10(2):193-7. Historical article PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Asbestos-related diseases remain common in Italy due to past exposures that were tolerated by a government distracted and manipulated by multinational asbestos corporations. The incidence of asbestos-related cancers has taken on almost epidemic proportions, for example, in Casale Monferrato in northwest Italy, where Eternit remained in operation until 1985, and in Monfalcone in northeast Italy, where naval dockyards and related activities created pollution. Authorities took action only after public protests, trade union pressures, and campaigning by the families of victims. Now that a ban exists in Italy, it is vital that it be fully enforced to reverse the epidemic of mesothelioma, lung cancer, and other asbestos-related diseases.

• Asbestos in Scotland. T. Gorman, R. Johnston, A. McIvor, et al. 2004;10(2):183-92. Review PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  This paper outlines the asbestos hazard in Scotland and draws upon a systematic oral history project to analyze from the workers' perspective the nature of exposure, the limitations of government regulatory initiatives, and the ramifications of contracting asbestos-related diseases for sufferers and their families. Current issues are investigated, stressing the agency of workers, trade unions, sympathetic local councils, and, especially, the victims' pressure groups. The occupational and environmental health threats of asbestos in Scotland remain significant, although recent E.U.- and U.K.-based decisions to ban further use of asbestos together with active campaigning by local activist groups have helped to reduce them. Mesothelioma mortality rates remain high, due to historic exposures, and much work remains to be done to reduce the number and plight of asbestos-exposed workers.

• Asbestos in the sputum, crackles in the lungs, and radiologic changes in women exposed to asbestos. J.C. Davies, D. Kielkowski, J.I. Phillips, et al. 2004;10(2):220-5. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  In a rural community in South Africa historically exposed to asbestos environmentally and occupationally, 200 women who had worked with asbestos and applied for medical examination to determine compensable asbestos disease were evaluated. Clinical and radiologic evaluation, sputum collection, and microscopic analysis were done. A questionnaire elicited type of exposure, duration, decade of first work exposure, and environmental exposure. Crackles were present in the lungs of 166 women and asbestos fibers and ferruginous bodies were present in 122. Asbestosis was identified in 26 and plural plaques in 62. Auscultation for crackles (rales) is useful in the initial examination of former asbestos workers in rural communities of developing countries.

• Asbestos victims support groups in England: a Manchester and Merseyside perspective. J. Flanagan, T. Whitston. 2004;10(2):177-82. Review PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  The development, functions, and effectiveness of asbestos victims' support groups in Manchester and Merseyside, England, are described.

• Asbestos, asbestos-related diseases, and compensation claims in The Netherlands. P. Swuste, A. Burdorf, B. Ruers. 2004;10(2):159-65. Review PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  In The Netherlands the number of asbestos-related diseases is increasing. An age-cohort model predicts a steep rise in pleural mesothelioma deaths up to 490 cases per year among men, with a total death toll close over 12,000 cases during 2000-2028. In the past decade the number of compensation claims for asbestos-related diseases has more than doubled, with increasingly verdicts in favor of claimants. In addition to the medical information, information about the state of the art of preventive measures in different periods of time plays a decisive role in these claims. The use of asbestos in The Netherlands, the occurrence of asbestos-related diseases, the national asbestos regulations, and the position of the claimants in asbestos lawsuits in The Netherlands are reviewed.

• Asbestosis in the Republic of Croatia. I. Trosić, S. Milković-Kraus. 2004;10(2):198-201. Review PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Croatians have been exposed to asbestos in the shipbuilding and asbestos-cement industries since 1945. The first cases of asbestosis were reported in 1961; 317 cases were recorded from 1990 to 2000. The Croatian Cancer Registry recorded 248 malignant pleural mesotheliomas between 1991 and 1997, two thirds of which were attributable to occupational exposures to asbestos. The Croatian Asbestosis Patient Association was founded in 1998 to help victims. Croatian law defines the employer's responsibility for work-related health damage and compensation, but average legal proceedings for asbestosis claims take about seven years. Croatian law does not ban the manufacture and import of asbestos. Croatia as a transitional country is subject to socioeconomic pressures. Future approaches to the asbestos issue will depend on revised regulations, which are expected to conform to recommendations of the European Union by 2005.

• Canadian asbestos: a global concern. L. Kazan-Allen. 2004;10(2):121-43. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  The impact of the chrysotile (white asbestos) industry at home and abroad was the focus of the first independent conference on asbestos to be held in Canada. In September 2003, Canadian asbestos victims and international experts met to examine a wide range of issues on Capital Hill, Ottawa; victims and their relatives spoke eloquently of the devious means used by asbestos stakeholders to maintain control of the national asbestos agenda. At the conclusion of the conference, Ban Asbestos Canada, a campaigning group to assist victims and raise awareness of Canada's tragic asbestos legacy, was formed.

• Chrysotile asbestos as a cause of mesothelioma: application of the Hill causation model. R.A. Lemen. 2004;10(2):233-9. Review PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Chrysotile comprises over 95% of the asbestos used today. Some have contended that the majority of asbestos-related diseases have resulted from exposures to the amphiboles. In fact, chrysotile is being touted as the form of asbestos which can be used safely. Causation is a controversial issue for the epidemiologist. How much proof is needed before causation can be established? This paper examines one proposed model for establishing causation as presented by Sir Austin Bradford Hill in 1965. Many policymakers have relied upon this model in forming public health policy as well as deciding litigation issues. Chrysotile asbestos meets Hill's nine proposed criteria, establishing chrysotile asbestos as a cause of mesothelioma.

• Collaborative research, participatory solutions: research on asbestos in Kuruman, South Africa. N. Jacobs, S. Kisting, L. Braun. 2004;10(2):226-32. Review PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  The 1998 South African National Asbestos Summit proposed a post-apartheid asbestos policy for the country. In the areas of environmental rehabilitation, health care, and compensation, it envisioned connecting asbestos mitigation to participatory development. In 2001, the Asbestos Collaborative, an international and interdisciplinary team, conducted follow-up research on the recommendations of the 1998 Summit, researching environmental, health, and compensation issues through consultation of documents and interviews with officials in urban areas and with people in Kuruman, a former crocidolite-mining site with high rates of asbestos-related disease. In Kuruman, local opinion supported the recommendations of the Asbestos Summit, insisting that policies to mitigate the problem of asbestos must also address poverty. In the wake of the 2001 research, a new organization, the Asbestos Interest Group (AIG), has been founded to facilitate grassroots participation in asbestos issues. One success of the AIG has been the settlement of a lawsuit by former workers against the former mining company in Kuruman.

• Global use of asbestos and the incidence of mesothelioma. A. Tossavainen. 2004;10(1):22-5. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  In Western Europe, Scandinavia, North America, and Australia the manufacture and use of asbestos products peaked in the 1970s. Current incidences of mesothelioma range from 14 to 35 cases/million/year in 11 industrialized countries that had used asbestos 2.0 to 5.5 kg/capita/year about 25 years earlier. A significant linear correlation (r = 0.80, p 0.01) exists between the two variables. Accordingly, about 170 tons of produced and consumed asbestos will cause at least one death from mesothelioma, most often as a consequence of occupational exposure.

• Malignant pleural mesothelioma--an update. D.J. Stewart, J.G. Edwards, W.R. Smythe, et al. 2004;10(1):26-39. Review PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Exposure to asbestos is the most frequent, but not exclusive, cause of malignant mesothelioma. Clinical features include dyspnea, cough, nonspecific chest pain, weight loss and night sweats. Diagnosis may be complicated by histologic difficulties. Thoracoscopic techniques are proving beneficial, but no one method of imaging has proven superior, and disease staging is inconsistent. Conventional treatments such as chemotherapy, surgery, and radiotherapy have had variable impacts, although chemotherapy is useful in palliation and can improve both survival and quality of life. There is hope for new antimetabolite agents. The role of radical surgery is yet to be evaluated in a large trial. New radiotherapeutic techniques to improve local control are promising. Multimodality treatments appear to be the most successful for management of potentially resectable disease. It is likely that biological markers will improve accuracy in staging and prognosis. With new treatments based on better understanding of the biology of the disease, there is cautious optimism for the future for patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma.

• Participatory mapping of occupational hazards and disease among asbestos-exposed workers from a foundry and insulation complex in Canada. M.M. Keith, J.T. Brophy. 2004;10(2):144-53. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  A study of former asbestos-exposed foundry and insulation workers was carried out in Sarnia, Ontario, home to Canada's petrochemical industry, using participatory mapping to document past exposures and subsequent diseases. Before it closed, government inspectors had monitored the use of asbestos at the facility, documenting levels that were thousands of times above the current legal limit. The study was undertaken by the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW) and Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) to provide evidence for worker compensation claims. Using facilitated hazard mapping, former Holmes workers graphically reconstructed their workplaces and detailed their exposures. Using facilitated body mapping, workers recorded and displayed their health problems. The study uncovered a grim pattern of occupational diseases. Following the release of the results, coupled with clinically confirmed diagnoses and corroborating evidence of exposure, hundreds of former Holmes employees and their families received compensation for occupational diseases that had previously gone unrecognized.

• Radiologic abnormalities in South African mica millers: a survey of a mica milling plant in the Limpopo Province. E. Venter, B. Nyantumbu, A. Solomon, et al. 2004;10(3):278-83. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  All 73 workers at a South African mica milling plant were surveyed for radiographic evidence of abnormalities related to dust exposures at work. Chest x-rays were taken and questionnaires administered to determine occupational and environmental exposure histories. Dust levels to which workers were exposed were measured. All but one of 12 airborne inhalable and respirable dust levels were below the occupational exposure limits (OEL-RLs) of 10 mg/m3 and 5 mg/m3 respectively. The mica concentrations were below the OEL-RL of 1 mg/m3 for respirable mica. Mean age and service duration of the workers were 45 and 14 years, respectively. 19 workers (27%) had changes referable to their exposures to asbestos, mica, silica, or combinations. Of these, four showed additional radiographic changes in keeping with tuberculous lung scarring. Six had evidence of lung changes consistent with past tuberculosis alone. Rates of radiologic abnormalities were higher in older workers and those with longer service. An association between mica and radiologic changes could not be convincingly shown because of the nature of the survey and the co-exposure to other mineral dusts. Nevertheless, six workers had radiologic changes consistent with pneumoconiosis attributable to mica or the combination of mica and silica.

• Re: Controlled use of asbestos. D. Egilman, M. Roberts. 2004;10(1):99-103. Comment · Letter PubMed · Publisher

  Summary

  In this letter, written in response to Castleman's article on the "controlled use" of asbestos, the authors argued that controlled use was the latest in a series of corporate misrepresentations of asbestos risk. They examined Union Carbide Corporation's (UCC) claims that Calidria, a chrysotile mined from the Coalinga deposit in California, was an innocuous short-fiber asbestos and that no mine or mill workers had developed asbestos-related disease. They drew on UCC documents produced in litigation in which one author was a consultant. They reported that Pinkerton's 1982 thesis found 48% of aerosolized Calidria fibers longer than 5 µm, compared with 25% of Canadian and UICC B chrysotile. They also reported that internal UCC studies from 1975, 1977 and 1983 showed long fibers and fine fibers missed in counting. UCC-funded Mellon Institute animal studies from 1966 and 1971, which were not published, reported fibrotic lesions or lung damage; in 1966 the Coalinga sample produced the most severe reaction. The authors stated that UCC consultants misrepresented Pinkerton's data. Their review of King City mine and mill workers' medical records found many chest x-ray findings compatible with asbestosis. Four workers had been diagnosed with asbestosis and four others had possible asbestos-related chest malignancies. One worker's death certificate was changed from asbestosis to non-specific pulmonary fibrosis. The authors concluded that Calidria causes asbestos-related disease.

  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.

• The diagnosis and attribution of asbestos-related diseases in an Australian context: report of the Adelaide Workshop on Asbestos-Related Diseases. October 6-7, 2000. D.W. Henderson, M.L. Jones, N. De Klerk, et al. 2004;10(1):40-6. Consensus statement · Review PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Predictions of future cases of mesothelioma in Australia to the year 2020 are in the order of a total of 10,000 new cases. Compensation claims are testing the attribution in a particular case between occupational asbestos exposure and lung cancer. The cost of the problem necessitates clarifying and standardizing the criteria for a confident diagnosis of asbestos-related disease. The possibility of differences in criteria that determine attribution of asbestos to a disease prompted a consensus meeting of pathologists, epidemiologists, physicians, oncologists, radiologists, and others to define current thinking and to agree on an Australian document based on the scientific evidence for establishing diagnoses and attribution data of asbestos-related diseases in Australia. The participants' findings are reported.

• The Dutch Institute for Asbestos Victims. Y.R. Waterman, M.G. Peeters. 2004;10(2):166-76. Review PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  The primary goal of the Dutch Institute for Asbestos Victims is to compensate mesothelioma victims who have been exposed to asbestos in the workplace, while they are still alive, by acting as a neutral mediator between these victims and their (former) employers or their insurers. Representatives of victims, employees, employers, and insurers have agreed to cooperate in the formation and operation of the Institute. The process of reaching a financial settlement has been collectivized, standardized, pacified, and institutionalized. The difficulty of awarding compensation while victims are still alive has led to the Advance Payment Scheme.

• The epidemic of asbestos-related diseases in New Zealand. T.E. Kjellstrom. 2004;10(2):212-9. Review PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  New Zealand is a small country with a big asbestos disease problem. The lack of action on warnings in the 1960s and 1970s has led to epidemics of mesothelioma and asbestosis, which can be clearly documented via the death and cancer registers. In addition, an uncertain number of lung cancers due to asbestos exposure has occurred. The epidemic started in the 1980s, and will eventually have cost the lives of at least 2000 to 3000 workers. Prevention against ongoing exposures from asbestos installed in buildings is essential, and another key issue for New Zealand is to ensure that fair workers' compensation is provided to all victims of asbestos diseases.

• The phase-out of asbestos in the Australian manufacturing environment. D.A. Vallance. 2004;10(2):209-11. Review PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  The importation of raw asbestos and asbestos-containing products into Australia was banned at the end of 2003. Despite a high incidence of asbestos-related disease, it was the threat of industrial action that eventually persuaded Australian governments to impose a ban. Significant government-sponsored reports in 1990 and 1999 had not convinced politicians that a phase-out of chrysotile was feasible. An impediment for government and industry was the risk of unemployment of asbestos workers. The threat of future asbestos exposures remains for maintenance workers. An example is given of the need for continued vigilance of workers and their unions before the manufacturing environment can be relatively asbestos-free.

• The Swedish experience with asbestos: history of use, diseases, legislation, and compensation. G. Hillerdal. 2004;10(2):154-8. Review PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  After World War II, large quantities of asbestos were imported to Sweden and used in construction and ship building. In 1976, the use of asbestos was for practical purposes prohibited. Today, the only exposures are environmental, from asbestos in place and when buildings are demolished or rebuilt, and there are very strict rules for such work. Consequently, it is assumed that the asbestos-related diseases will gradually disappear from society, but due to the long latency time, about 100 mesotheliomas still occur every year in Sweden, and so far there is no certain sign of a decrease in incidence. Compensation is from the state via general insurance and consists basically of compensation for lost income and medical costs.

• Warning auto mechanics about asbestos hazards. J. LaDou. 2004;10(1):108-9. Editorial PubMed · Publisher

• "Controlled use" of asbestos. B. Castleman. 2003;9(3):294-8. PubMed · Publisher

  Summary

  This commentary critically examined the asbestos industry's term "controlled use," which the author described as sales propaganda never reflected in actual practice. It focused on asbestos-cement (A-C) products, which accounted for over 90% of world asbestos use. The author drew on regulatory history, industry documents and trade-magazine reports, published exposure measurements, his own visits to several countries, and his attendance at World Trade Organization (WTO) hearings as a scientific advisor to the European Commission. He reported that in 1970 US A-C producers rejected a warning about the hazards of sawing their products. Industry data from the 1970s showed power-saw exposures over 250 f/cc, reducible to 0.8 f/cc with local exhaust ventilation. The author said such equipment was rarely if ever used in construction. Abrasive disc saws produced 26-109 f/cc for operators and 10-49 f/cc for helpers. A later Japanese study recorded 49-170 f/cc (mean 92) during pipe repair inside holes. In Puerto Rico, 1,300 families were relocated from A-C housing. The 1998 International Program on Chemical Safety report concluded that no level of chrysotile exposure was free from cancer risk. At the WTO, Canada lost its challenge to the French asbestos ban, and the WTO's experts did not consider Canada's "controlled use" realistic. US OSHA had issued 4,000 citations for asbestos violations in 1996-1998. The author contrasted continued asbestos use in India with bans in Brazil. He concluded that really well controlled use of asbestos had never existed, and that vegetable-fiber cement composites were an encouraging alternative.

  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.

• A cross-country comparative overview of the asbestos situation in ten Asian countries. K. Takahashi, A. Karjalainen. 2003;9(3):244-8. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Information about asbestos issues at the national level was compiled for ten Asian countries (China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam) regarding 1) bans and consumption levels; 2) occupational exposure limits (OELs) and medical follow-up schemes; and 3) statistics and compensation status of asbestosis and mesothelioma victims. Only Singapore and recently Japan have adopted a total ban an asbestos. China, a major producer of chrysotile, showed an increasing consumption trend, which was typical of the less industrialized countries. Considerable differences between countries existed in OELs (0.1 to 5.0 fibers/mL) and medical follow-up of exposed workers. National statistics for asbestosis and mesothelioma were available for only the industrialized countries, where reported cases as well as compensated cases were relatively few. There is need to improve the quality and quantity of information, but the available information attests to unfavorable conditions in the less industrialized countries. Hence the experience of industrialized countries regarding asbestos and its use should be utilized to the fullest to improve the situation worldwide.

• Asbestos in Belgium: use and abuse. S.Y. Nay. 2003;9(3):287-93. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  It took 50 years for Belgium to recognize asbestosis; mesothelioma and lung cancer were recognized as occupational diseases caused by asbestos in 1982 and 1999, much later than in neighboring countries. Only salaried workers can claim compensation from the Occupational Diseases Fund. The right to reparation is thus denied to most victims because many have been self-employed: mechanics, electricians, painters, roofers, carpenters, plumbers, etc. Compensation was also denied to people who became ill through exposures to the workclothes of family members or pollution from asbestos factories near their homes. The main obstacles facing asbestos victims are legal and judicial. For instance, an employer is not liable, even for gross negligence. Victims are not allowed to claim if 20 years have passed since their exposures to asbestos. Changes in Belgian legislation are sorely needed.

• Asbestos in Japan. S. Furuya, Y. Natori, R. Ikeda. 2003;9(3):260-5. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  In 2002 a total ban on asbestos was announced in Japan, following many years of sporadic and variably effective measures intended to control its use in that country. A major factor in instigating the ban was public awareness raised by the publicizing of the experience of asbestos-exposed workers in the U.S. naval base and shipyards at Yokosuka, an inordinate number of whom died of asbestos-related disease. Statistics of asbestos-related disease mortality in Japan are presented. Groups prominent in the effort to establish the ban and make it effective include the Japan Occupational Safety and Health Resource Center (JOSHRC) and the Ban Asbestos Network Japan (BANJAN). Activities of these groups are described.

• Asbestos mining in Southern Africa, 1893-2002. J. McCulloch. 2003;9(3):230-5. Historical article PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Asbestos has been mined in Southern Africa for more than a century. Chrysotile from the mines of Swaziland and Zimbabwe was marketed around the globe, while South African mines produced almost all of the world's amphibole fiber. The major mines were owned and operated by British firms that in the United Kingdom from 1931 were subject to occupational health and safety legislation. The failure of those companies to apply knowledge of the dangers of asbestos to their Southern African operations saw men, women, and children labor in conditions that would have been unthinkable in Britain. The result has been a legacy of disease and environmental pollution.

• Asbestos problems yet to explode in Korea. D. Paek. 2003;9(3):266-71. Historical article PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Although asbestos mining and manufacture has occurred in Korea since the 1920s, it was not until the 1980s that the broader social democratic movement heightened public awareness of the health problems associated with exposure to asbestos. The first systematic national survey of asbestos-related diseases was conducted in 1993. In that year, the first case of asbestos-related disease was compensated by the government. This long-delayed recognition of asbestos-related disease took place in a country that already had more than 100 asbestos factories. About 40 to 50 mesothelioma cases are reported annually through the Korean Cancer Registry. Nonetheless, only six mesothelioma cases have ever been referred to the government for workers' compensation. Lung cancer is the fastest growing cancer in Korea. Over the last 15 years, mortality from lung cancer has more than tripled. Among all these lung cancer cases, only 12 have been recognized as occupational in origin and compensated accordingly.

• Asbestos's sorrowful legacy: a photoessay. H. Du Plessis. 2003;9(3):236-43. Case report PubMed · Publisher

• Asbestos-related morbidity in India. T.K. Joshi, R.K. Gupta. 2003;9(3):249-53. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  In India, locally mined asbestos is not enough for its current needs, hence a great deal of asbestos is imported from Canada. Asbestos products manufacturers have prevailed upon the government to reduce tariffs on imported material. The efforts of the health and safety professionals who joined with nongovernmental organizations to form the Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI) are being consistently sabotaged by the industry, using its influence and false propaganda that chrysotile asbestos can be safely used in a controlled manner. Weak legislation and lack of data are being exploited by the industry to convince policymakers that asbestos use in India has caused no major health problems. Despite this, the ban-asbestos movement has gained momentum and was able to persuade government to consider banning asbestos use. With the growing strength of the movement it is expected that asbestos manufacturers may find it increasingly difficult to manipulate the government in the future.

• Cape Plc: South African mineworkers' quest for justice. R. Meeran. 2003;9(3):218-29. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Communities in South Africa, especially those in Limpopo and Northern Cape, have been decimated by the mining operations of Cape Plc. South African victims of asbestos-related disease have only recently begun to be awarded (modest) compensation settlements through litigation, as a result of collective efforts on their behalf. The tortuous case of Cape, which knowingly exposed thousands of innocent people, especially black workers, to damaging environmental concentrations of asbestos, is detailed. After fierce and prolonged skirmishing in the courts, a decision in favor of the claimants allowed the case to be tried in the English High Court. Cape reached a settlement agreement with the claimants in 2001, but was unable to meet its terms. Renewed litigation in 2002 resulted in the signing of three new settlement agreements in 2003. These have yet to be put into effect, but it is hoped that the recent developments represent a turning point in the fortunes of South African asbestos victims.

• Globalization and the transfer of hazardous industry: asbestos in Mexico, 1979-2000. G. Aguilar-Madrid, C.A. Juárez-Pérez, S. Markowitz, et al. 2003;9(3):272-9. Historical article PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  This study quantified asbestos use in Mexico in the past decade and evaluated available data on mortality due to malignant mesothelioma in Mexico between 1979 and 2000. Mortality data were analyzed from secondary databases of the Mexican Social Security System and the Ministry of Health. Data on the import and export of asbestos in Mexico were obtained from the Ministry of Trade and Industrial Development of Mexico. Deaths due to pleural mesothelioma significantly increased in this period. Although the import of asbestos declined, the number of Mexican products that contain asbestos tripled. Export of Mexican asbestos-containing products to Central America grew rapidly in the last ten years of the study. Mexico continues the appreciable use of asbestos and has experienced a significant increase in the occurrence of the sentinel asbestos-related disease, malignant mesothelioma. Given the many limitations to the control of hazardous work exposures in Mexico, a ban on asbestos is advocated as the most feasible means of limiting an epidemic of asbestos-related disease.

• Justice for asbestos victims and the politics of compensation: the French experience. A. Thébaud-Mony. 2003;9(3):280-6. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  This paper presents the history of asbestos mining and manufacture in France, the strategies of the multinational asbestos firms to become major international participants, the failures of occupational health and safety that allowed an epidemic of asbestos-related diseases to occur, and the important social movement of the victims of asbestos exposure. The asbestos industry thrived in France until the health effects of asbestos exposure were made public. At that time, the industry had already moved its mining and manufacture to developing countries, where they were able to take advantage of limited regulation and enforcement of occupational and environmental laws. The author analyzes the compensation systems that were approached with varying degrees of success by the victims of asbestos exposure. France banned all manufacture and use of asbestos in 1997, and in the years that have followed, it has enjoyed many successes in achieving compensation for asbestos victims.

• Lung cancer in MMVF workers--viewpoints on a null-result study. E.S. Hansen. 2003;9(4):397-8. Comment PubMed · Publisher

• Malignant mesothelioma in Australia, 1945-2002. J. Leigh, T. Driscoll. 2003;9(3):206-17. Historical article PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Using register data, time trends in mesothelioma incidence in Australia from 1945 to 2002 were calculated. Incidences are reported by age, sex, anatomic site, and state of notification. Associations with occupational and environmental asbestos exposure histories and lifetime risks in different exposure categories were investigated. Lung-fiber content was measured in a subset of cases. Australia had 7,027 cases from 1945 to 2001, with 488 more in January 2002 through June 2003. Incidence rates for Australia per million population > or = 20 years old (1999) were: male 53.3; female 10.2; total 31.8. Rates have continually increased and are the highest reported national rates in the world. Western Australia had the highest rate (1999 total 47.7), but most cases arose from the two most populous eastern states, New South Wales and Victoria. In 88% of cases (male 90%, female 61%), histories of asbestos exposures were obtained. In 80% of cases with no history of exposure, TEM lung asbestos fiber counts > 200,000 fibers > 2 microm length/g dry lung were obtained, suggesting unrecognized exposure. Australia's high incidence of mesothelioma is related to high past asbestos use, of all fiber types, in a wide variety of settings. The number of cases is expected to be about 18,000 by 2020, with about 11,000 yet to appear.

• Mortality from pleural mesothelioma in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1979-2000: estimation from death certificates, hospital records, and histopathologic assessments. G.A. Pinheiro, V.C. Antão, M.M. Monteiro, et al. 2003;9(2):147-52. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  To obtain information about the occurrence of pleural mesothelioma on a population basis in Brazil, mortality related to pleural tumors in the State of Rio de Janeiro during 1979-2000 was examined. Death certificates with pleural tumors as the main cause of death and hospital records were analyzed, together with histopathologic material, which was reevaluated. Of 217 death certificates coded as pleural tumors, 34.1% were considered wrongly coded. Results after reclassification were: definite mesothelioma = 45 cases; probable = 7; possible = 31; inconclusive = 65; other tumors = 11. Thus, the number of mesotheliomas in Rio de Janeiro in 1979-2000 is estimated to have been 83. The analysis also suggests a problem with mortality codification in the State.

• Scientific controversy and asbestos: making disease invisible. L. Braun, A. Greene, M. Manseau, et al. 2003;9(3):194-205. Review PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Despite irrefutable evidence that asbestos causes asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma, asbestos mining, milling, and manufacturing continue. The authors discuss three scientific debates over the roles of fiber types, viruses, and genetics in the development of mesothelioma. While these controversies might appear internal to science and unconnected to policies of the global asbestos industry, they argue that scientific debates, whether or not fostered by industry, play a central role in shaping conceptualization of the problem of asbestos-related disease. In South Africa, India, and elsewhere, these controversies help to make the disease experience of asbestos-exposed workers and people in asbestos-contaminated communities invisible, allowing the asbestos industry to escape accountability for its practices.

• Study of lung cancer in MMVF workers. P. Boffetta, K. Kjaerheim, J. Hansen, et al. 2003;9(2):169-70. Letter · Comment PubMed · Publisher

• The asbestos war. L. Kazan-Allen. 2003;9(3):173-93. Review PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  That asbestos is still being sold despite overwhelming evidence linking it to debilitating and fatal diseases is testament to the effectiveness of a campaign, spear-headed by Canadian interests, to promote a product already banned in many developed countries. Blessed by government and commercial support, asbestos apologists have implemented a long-term coordinated strategy targeting new consumers in Asia, the Far East and Latin America. At industry-backed "conferences" and on government-funded junkets, they spin a web of deceit, telling all who will listen that "chrysotile (white asbestos) can be used safely." The fact that Canada exports over 95% of all the chrysotile it mines suggests that while chrysotile is supposedly safe enough for foreigners, it is not safe enough for Canadians. Asbestos victims in many countries have struggled to gain public recognition of the human cost of asbestos use. In recent years, nongovernmental organizations working with these groups have created a global anti-asbestos virtual network; with the commitment and support of thousands of "virtual members," this network challenges industry's propaganda and exposes the forces that support its cynical attempt to offload this dangerous substance on developing countries.

• The blighted hills of Roro, Jharkhand, India: a tale of corporate greed and abandonment. M. Dutta, R. Sreedhar, A. Basu. 2003;9(3):254-9. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  In the Chaibasa region of the West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand, India, an abandoned chrysotile asbestos mine is a health scourge for villagers and former mine workers. A massive pile of asbestos waste mixed with chromite has lain atop the hilltops of Roro village for two decades, gradually seeping into the land, water, homes, and bodies of the tribal communities living at the foothills of Roro. To investigate the status of the asbestos waste and its impact on the community and the environment, a fact-finding team made a preliminary assessment. Its findings suggest that the careless closure of the mines and the unscientific disposal of toxic asbestos and chromite waste by the mining company pose a serious threat to the health of the local community and the environment. The preliminary health survey of 14 villages around the Roro hills, with 45% of the respondents being former workers of the Roro asbestos mines, indicates a highly probable link between the asbestos exposures and several adverse health effects such as low back pain, dyspnea, hemoptysis, and blindness.

• No effect or no information? Comments on a nested case-control study of lung cancer among European rock and slag wool production workers. E.S. Hansen. 2002;8(3):281-3. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  The author considers the validity of a recent study of lung cancer among European rock and slag wool workers. The study failed to demonstrate an association between lung cancer and exposure to man-made vitreous fibers and also did not manage to demonstrate a relationship between lung cancer and asbestos exposure, an odd finding that casts doubt on its validity. This article deals with bias towards the null and other aspects of the reviewed study that may explain its failure to demonstrate an effect of asbestos, concluding that the study does not add to knowledge about a possible carcinogenic effect of rock and slag wool fibers, the apparent null results simply being non-informative because of the study's poor ability to detect existing associations.

• Semantics and the application of the ILO classification: the need for recording visceral pleural manifestations separately. A. Solomon. 2002;8(3):288-9. Letter PubMed · Publisher

• The International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH) and its influence on international organizations. N.A. Ashford, B. Castleman, A.L. Frank, et al. 2002;8(2):156-62. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  The ICOH has played a key role in the development of some scientific documents and policy recommendations, but it has not always been scientifically objective, particularly in regard to asbestos and other fibers and some chemicals and pesticides. Many ICOH members are employees of corporations or consultants to industry, serving multinational corporate interests to influence public health policy in the guise of a professional scientific organization. ICOH members' conflicts of interest with the public health dominate the organization and damage the standing of the ICOH. Official recognition of the ICOH compromises the credibility of the WHO and the ILO. It is inappropriate for the ICOH to continue to receive WHO and ILO recognition unless the ICOH is recognized as an industry organization.

• Use of an asbestos exposure score and the presence of pleural and parenchymal abnormalities in a lung cancer case series. E.S. Schaeffner, D.P. Miller, J.C. Wain, et al. 2001;7(1):14-8. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  To assess whether there was an association between asbestos exposure and abnormalities on chest x-rays or CT scans, chest radiographs and CT scans of 103 asbestos-exposed patients with known lung cancer were reviewed for pleural or parenchymal abnormalities. Asbestos exposure was assessed using an asbestos exposure index that integrated time and intensity of reported exposure via a weighting scheme. Chest CT scans were clearly more sensitive in detecting pleural or parenchymal abnormalities than were standard PA chest x-rays. Furthermore, there was a significant correlation between higher asbestos exposure index scores and abnormalities on CT scans. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to investigate the relationship between the asbestos exposure index score and pleural or parenchymal abnormalities after adjusting for gender, pack-years of smoking, and cell type. None of these variables was associated with abnormalities on chest x-rays or CT scans. An asbestos exposure score > 10 was associated with pleural or parenchymal abnormalities (OR = 4.93; 95%CI 1.05-23.12). The results suggest that assessment of asbestos exposures by means of an algorithm-based index can classify the exposures accurately for epidemiologic studies.

• WTO upholds French ban on chrysotile. L.K. Allen. 2001;7(3):246-53. Editorial PubMed · Publisher

• Asbestos magnate to environmental guru: the morphing of Stephan Schmidheiny. D.M. Berman, A. Knoepfli. 2000;6(4):351-2. Historical article · Letter PubMed · Publisher

• Open letter on the asbestos industry in India. L. Kazan-Allen. 2000;6(4):345-8. PubMed · Publisher

• South Africa asbestos ruling may bring flood of claims to London. Lloyd's of London. 2000;6(4):350-1. Comment · Letter PubMed · Publisher

• The international ban asbestos secretariat. L. Kazan-Allen. 2000;6(2):164. Letter PubMed · Publisher

  Summary

  In this letter, Laurie Kazan-Allen of the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS) responded to a call for an international ban on asbestos, proposed by the Collegium Ramazzini and recently published in the journal. She described the call as a milestone in public health advocacy and introduced IBAS, which was set up in 1999 to work alongside the Ban Asbestos Network. The author stated that millions of people had died from asbestos-related diseases during the twentieth century and argued that a global ban on all types of asbestos was logical and just. She wrote that asbestos producers had exploited an information vacuum and used a policy of "controlled use" to reassure customers that chrysotile was safe, despite evidence to the contrary. She also wrote that working conditions in China, India, Brazil, Korea, Russia and other countries were far from controlled. The Ban Asbestos Network was described as pivotal in the French, United Kingdom and European decisions to ban asbestos. IBAS was intended to collect and share information through e-mail, a web site and a discussion group. The letter announced an international asbestos conference in Osasco, Brazil, on September 15-20, 2000, to prepare strategies to end asbestos mining and manufacture and to address asbestos-related diseases in developing countries.

  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.

1990s

• Call for an international ban on asbestos. C. Ramazzini. 1999;5(3):247-9. PubMed · Publisher

• Extrapulmonary neoplasms among asbestos-exposed power plant workers. I.G. Ron, H. Ron, Y. Lerman. 1999;5(4):304-6. Case report PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Three cases of fatal extrapulmonary neoplasms among asbestos-exposed power plant workers are described. These cases add to the growing evidence for a causal relationship between asbestos exposures and extrapulmonary neoplasms.

• Global corporate policies and international "double standards" in occupational and environmental health. B. Castleman. 1999;5(1):61-4. Editorial PubMed · Publisher

  Summary

  This editorial examined how global corporations applied lower standards of worker and environmental protection in some countries than in others, using asbestos in Brazil as the main example. The author reported that General Motors still used asbestos engine gaskets in Brazil, although it had stopped using them in North America five years earlier. At least one gasket supplier's Campinas plant lacked dust control. In a four-year-old survey partially disclosed by the manufacturer, at least one fiber count exceeded Brazil's limit of 2 f/cc, and all exceeded the U.S. OSHA limit of 0.1 f/cc. Asbestos brake parts were shipped from Brazil to the United States, including by Bosch, which did not sell asbestos brakes in Germany. St. Gobain converted its French asbestos-cement plants after the 1996 French ban but kept asbestos interests in Brazil. Its subsidiary Eternit sought to prosecute labor inspector Fernanda Giannasi for criminal defamation, and the court rejected the complaint. The author also described alleged business influence at WHO, ILO, IPCS and ICOH, including asbestos reports that were withdrawn. He proposed an independent study and comparison of corporate health, safety and environment policies, supported enforceable international requirements such as a European Parliament code of conduct, and described liability suits, including asbestos claims against Cape Industries in British courts. He concluded that individual countries could act to curb corporate double standards.

  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.

• Globally asbestos-free automobiles. J. Rangé. 1999;5(3):242-3. Comment · Letter PubMed · Publisher

• Malignant mesothelioma in Israel, 1961-1992. J. Iscovich, A. Fischbein, J. Witt-Kushner, et al. 1999;5(3):157-63. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  The authors monitored time trends in the incidences and distributions of malignant mesotheliomas during 1961-92 in 223 Israeli persons, including 21 men from a cohort of 3,057 asbestos-cement workers (83,122 person-years). The annual incidence rates of malignant mesotheliomas in Jewish men ranged between 2.5 per million in 1961-82 and 4.6 per million in 1985-92. The male-to-female incidence ratio rose from 1.2 in the 1960s to 2.9 during 1985-92, as a result of increases in risk among Israeli-born males. Females accounted for 37.6% of all cases, after exclusion of the cohort of asbestos workers. Of the 223 cases, 202 (91%) had no indication of direct occupational exposure to asbestos. In Jewish females, the incidence of malignant mesotheliomas did not increase after 1961. The mean age at diagnosis in all cases was lowest in the Israeli-born (53.0 years). High levels of asbestos exposure in the 1970s and the relatively early age of onset of the disease indicate that exposure began at a younger age in Israel than in European countries. Asbestos manufacture and use peaked in Israel during the mid-1970s, so the maximum impact of these trends has yet to be seen.

• Photoessay. Workers' exposures to asbestos in Brazil. 1999;5(3):244-6. PubMed · Publisher

• Globally asbestos-free automobiles. B. Castleman. 1998;4(4):277-8. Editorial · Review PubMed · Publisher

• Incidence of lung cancer among shipyard welders investigated for siderosis. T.E. Danielsen, S. Lang rd, A. Andersen. 1998;4(2):85-8. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  The incidence of lung cancer among 428 shipyard welders exposed for more than ten years to welding fumes was investigated. The welders were examined for siderosis by the Directorate of Labor Inspection in 1975. The present study was a follow-up based on historical information from the Norwegian registry of dust-exposed workers. Twenty-three welders with siderosis, and 156 welders working at the same shipyards as the siderosis cases were studied as sub-cohorts. There was no loss on follow-up. The observation period was 1976 through 1992. There were 32 cases of cancer from all causes vs 41.3 expected. A nonsignificant excess of lung cancer was observed; 10 cases vs 6.5 expected. The incidence of lung cancer was highest for the welders with more than 30 years since first exposure (7 cases vs 4.1 expected). The sub-cohort of welders with siderosis had no case of lung cancer vs 0.5 expected. These welders were assumed to have experienced high exposure levels for welding fumes. The morbidity of cancer from all causes was low for this small group of blue-collar workers, but the incidence of lung cancer was slightly increased. The increase was not attributable to welders with siderosis. Smoking and asbestos exposure are potential confounders.

• Instances of sprayed asbestos use in Brazil. G. Tweedale. 1998;4(3):206. Comment · Letter PubMed · Publisher

• Lung cancer mortality in a cohort of older pulp and paper workers. P.K. Henneberger, M.B. Lax. 1998;4(3):147-54. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  The occurrence of deaths due to lung cancer was studied among 883 white male workers from a pulp and paper company in northern New Hampshire. All subjects had participated in a longitudinal study of respiratory morbidity, and data from interviews were used to construct lifetime cigarette smoking and occupational histories. Most of the subjects had entered follow-up in the 1960s and, at that time, their mean age was 51 years and they had worked for the pulp and paper company a mean of 25 years. By the end of follow-up in 1992, the 512 deceased subjects included 35 whose underlying cause of death had been lung cancer. With an internal comparison using the Cox proportional-hazards model, the hazard ratio for sulfite pulp mill work was 2.5 (95% CI 1.3-4.9), while controlling for the effects of age, cigarette smoking, and work in other parts of the pulping operation. In addition, the hazard ratio for the combination of >35 pack-years of smoking and >10 years sulfite mill work was greater than the product of the hazard ratios for each factor alone. While these findings are consistent with past asbestos exposure in the sulfite pulp mill environment, the absence of mesothelioma cases is inconsistent with this type of exposure.

• Occupational illnesses within two national data sets. J.P. Leigh, T.R. Miller. 1998;4(2):99-113. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  To describe occupational illness data in two large data sets, two national data sets were aggregated, and the numbers, percentages, and rates of cases of occupational illnesses were determined. Job-related illness data were from Bureau of Labor Statistics documents containing Annual Survey and Census of Fatal Occupational Injury data. A severity index was created to assess the overall burden of a disease. The index multiplies the number of cases times the median days lost. Circulatory disease accounted for 85% of the deaths in the Census and at least 80% in the Annual Survey. More fatal myocardial infarctions occurred on Monday than on any other day. Low-paying occupations had the most myocardial infarctions: operators, laborers, and truck drivers; high-paying occupations had the least: executives, administrators, and managers. Carpal tunnel syndrome and hearing loss accounted for more morbidity, measured by cases and days lost, than any other illness. Persons at great risk for carpal tunnel syndrome included dental hygienists, butchers, sewing machine operators, and dentists. Mental disorders generated more morbidity than is generally acknowledged. Neurotic reactions to stress were highest in the transportation and public utility industries, as well as in finance, insurance, and real estate. Manufacturing contributed far more cases than any other industry. Industries generating significant asbestos-related deaths included construction and boat building. Ninety-three percent of all illness fatalities were among men. Few African Americans died from coal-workers' pneumoconiosis. Illness cases increased much faster than injury cases in recent years. The two data sets provide insights into the incidences and prevalences of occupational illnesses, but underestimate the burden of job-related illnesses.

• Salud Ocupacional. B. Castleman, J. Dement, A.L. Frank, et al. 1998;4(2):131-3. Letter PubMed · Publisher

• Working with asbestos in Brazil. J. Rangé. 1998;4(1):56-8. Letter PubMed · Publisher

• Working with asbestos in Russia. N. Izmerov, L. Elovskaya, E. Kovalevskiy. 1998;4(1):59-61. Letter PubMed · Publisher

  Summary

  This item contains a letter to the editor and a reply. Izmerov, Elovskaya and Kovalevskiy, of the Institute of Occupational Health in Moscow, responded to an article by Giannasi and Thébaud-Mony on occupational asbestos exposure in Brazil. They agreed that working conditions in Brazilian asbestos enterprises were poorly controlled. They cited open packs of asbestos, the use of sticks and shovels, air blasting, the involvement of pregnant women, and the absence of medical examinations. They argued that this did not justify a ban, and they criticized the article for giving no quantitative exposure measurements or epidemiologic data. They stated that Russia mined and manufactured chrysotile, that friable asbestos products were not used in Russian homes and public buildings, and that asbestos-related diseases occurred only under high exposure. They supported 'controlled use' under ILO Convention 162, said that man-made mineral fibres caused almost the same diseases, and opposed bans on social and economic grounds. In reply, Castleman wrote that expert panels had rejected the high-exposure claim. He cited an excess lifetime lung cancer risk of 5/1,000 at 0.1 fiber/cc of chrysotile. He wrote that ILO protective measures were unavailable in most countries still using much asbestos, and that cutting asbestos-cement had produced exposures in the hundreds of fibers/cc. He reported that, at a December 1997 symposium, Russian scientists had acknowledged that dust counts at Russian asbestos plants considerably exceeded official limits. He argued for substitute materials.

  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.

• Occupational Exposures to Asbestos in Brazil. F. Giannasi, A. Thébaud-Mony. 1997;3(2):150-157. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  European and Canadian asbestos companies have long taken advantage of the lack of regulation of the asbestos industry in developing countries. Their activities exploit vulnerable workers whose lack of medical care may result in a silent epidemic of asbestos-related diseases. At this time, virtually all cases of asbestosis and asbestos-related cancers are not identified, reported, or compensated in developing countries. Brazil provides a compelling example of this growing problem. To stem the epidemic of asbestos-related diseases, Brazil, and many other countries, must adopt the total ban on asbestos use now in effect in more developed countries. Obstacles to accomplishing this in developing countries are daunting.

• Relationship between Asbestos Exposures and 8-Hydroxydeoxyguanosine Levels in Leukocytic DNA of Workers at a Chinese Asbestos-material Plant. K. Takahashi, G. Pan, H. Kasai, et al. 1997;3(2):111-119. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  The objective of the study was to evaluate the level of 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) in DNA of peripheral-blood leukocytes as a biological marker of asbestos exposure and/or its fibrotic effects in an occupational population exposed to asbestos. The setting was a large-scale asbestos plant in China producing brake linings, asbestos rubber, and textile using chrysotile. From a base population of active and retired workers with various levels of cumulative exposure to asbestos and grades of asbestosis, 39 study subjects were randomly selected to reflect incremental grades of asbestosis based on Chinese diagnostic standards. They consisted of 19 "normal" (control) and ten "suspected" and ten "definite" asbestosis-grade subjects, group-matched for age and sex. Leukocytic DNA was extracted from 5-mL samples of peripheral blood and 8-OHdG level measured by high-pressure liquid chromatography. A cumulative asbestos exposure index (CEI) was calculated for each subject as the summed product of duration and level of asbestos exposure per job, incorporating a job-exposure matrix. Geometric mean 8-OHdG levels showed a positive gradient in relation to increasing grades of asbestosis (control: 1.78, suspected: 2.21, definite: 2.58), with a significant difference between the control and definite-asbestosis subgroups (p < 0.05). The 8-OHdG level of the two subgroups combined as one "asbestosis" group was significantly higher than that of the control group (control: 1.78, asbestosis: 2.39, p = 0.01). Further, 8-OHdG levels were moderately correlated with CEIs for all subjects (r = 0.35, p < 0.05) and with grades of asbestosis for all (r = 0.47, p < 0.01) and for male subjects (r = 0.43, p < 0.05). In multiple regression analyses, grade of asbestosis explained 27% of the total variation in 8-OHdG and was a better predictor than CEI or duration of exposure. Thus, the 8-OHdG level in leukocytic DNA is related to grade of asbestosis and to individual cumulative exposure and may serve as a biologic marker reflecting the status of oxidative DNA damage by asbestos.

• Mortality Patterns among Commercial Painters in The Netherlands. C.W. Terstegge, G.M. Swaen, J.J. Slangen, et al. 1995;1(4):303-310. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  In an epidemiologic study, the mortality patterns of commercial painters in The Netherlands were investigated. The hypothesis that painters are at an increased risk of cancer, especially lung cancer, was tested in collaboration with the Dutch Social Fund for painters. This fund manages the pensions of Dutch painters. In the group of painters eligible for pensions, 9,812 deaths were observed between 1980 and 1992. Proportionate mortality ratios were calculated. The results support previous findings of an increased risk of lung cancer in painters. Although no statement can be made about the actual causal agent, the authors believe that the sanding down of old paint layers may expose painters to particulates that contain carcinogens such as lead chromates and asbestos. The decreased risks of mortality from some neoplasms and circulatory and digestive problems, pneumoconiosis, and "other causes" observed in the painters lack a plausible explanation. Chance or the known limitation of proportionate mortality ratio analysis might play a role.

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