The Medical Journal of Australia

Our medical research library holds 58 studies published in The Medical Journal of Australia (1962–2025). 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. 21 have an abstract, the authors' own summary as PubMed records it: open "Abstract" to read it. For 10 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: Australasian Medical Publishing Co
• Published: 1914 to the present, Australia
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0025-729X (print), 1326-5377 (electronic)
• Merged from: Australasian Medical Gazette
• Merged from: Australian Medical Journa
• Its record in the NLM Catalog

2020s

• The public health impacts of mining in Australia. J. Cortes-Ramirez, R.N. Michael, L.M. Toms, et al. 2025;223(10):541-549. Systematic review PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

  Abstract

  Australia is rich in minerals of commercial interest along with oil and gas, and mining activities are carried out in almost all states and territories. The public health impacts of mining on the Australian general population need to be addressed to enable a comprehensive cost-benefit assessment of these activities balanced against their broader impacts. This systematic search and thematic review of the literature evidenced that exposure to agents released during mining operations, such as cadmium, iron, manganese, zinc, arsenic and lead, is associated with neoplastic and non-neoplastic diseases in adults and children. Mining of lead is specifically associated with negative fertility effects in men and with intellectual disability and impaired immune function in children. Asbestos mining is associated with higher morbidity and mortality due to respiratory and non-respiratory cancers, and recent analyses have identified a higher risk of severe respiratory and circulatory diseases in communities in proximity to coal mining. Although unconventional gas extraction is more newly introduced in Australia, research has found a higher risk of hospitalisation by all-causes and for circulatory, respiratory and blood and immune diseases, especially in children. These findings are consistent with extensive research globally, but human studies in this field are scarce in Australia. Multisectoral approaches are required to address these impacts, including committed involvement of the mining industry, the academic sector and, especially, the different levels of government.

  © 2025 The Author(s). Medical Journal of Australia published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of AMPCo Pty Ltd.

2010s

• Mesothelioma in Australia: a review. A.B.W. Musk, N. de Klerk, F.J. Brims. 2017;207(10):449-452. Review PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  The incidence of malignant mesothelioma in Australia is among the highest in the world as a result of widespread use of asbestos by industry and in construction throughout the 20th century. The risk of developing malignant mesothelioma after asbestos exposure is dose-related; a transient, low dose exposure confers a correspondingly very low risk of disease. Malignant mesothelioma is a heterogeneous disease, partly explaining the limited role of biomarkers in screening and diagnosis. The prognosis remains poor, and early advice on medico-legal compensation and a collaborative team approach to managing malignant mesothelioma are both essential. Chemotherapy can have a modest treatment effect in some people. New therapies, such as immunotherapy, do not yet have a defined role in the treatment of malignant mesothelioma. As treatment options for malignant mesothelioma are limited and no cure is available, there is no established role for early detection or screening of at risk populations. A multidisciplinary approach to caring for patients with malignant mesothelioma and their carers is vital.

• Asbestos exposure: challenges for Australian clinicians. A.W. Musk, N.H. de Klerk, A.K. Nowak. 2016;204(2):48-9. PubMed · Publisher

• Using a multidisciplinary approach to combat the burden of asbestos-related disease. N. van Zandwijk, M. Soeberg, G. Reid. 2016;204(2):52. PubMed · Publisher

• Pattern of malignant mesothelioma incidence and occupational exposure to asbestos in Western Australia. A.W. Musk, N. Olsen, H. Alfonso, et al. 2015;203(6):251-2e.1. PubMed · Publisher

  Summary

  This short report described the pattern of malignant mesothelioma (MM) incidence in Western Australia (WA) in relation to occupational asbestos exposure. All incident MM cases are recorded in the WA Cancer Registry, and an expert committee verified each diagnosis. Using available medical and employment records, the authors identified the most significant occupational exposure likely responsible for each case. They expressed each occupational group as a proportion of all cases per decade. Between 1962 and 2009 there were 1263 confirmed cases (97% male) with occupational asbestos exposure and 75 cases (53% male) with no identifiable exposure. Cases rose from 57 in the 1960s and 1970s to 211 in the 1980s, 475 in the 1990s and 595 in the 2000s. Proportions linked to crocidolite production and transport, rail work and plumbing were highest in 1960–1979. Proportions for waterside work, armed forces, lagging and insulation, shipbuilding, asbestos cement production, brake work and non-asbestos mining peaked in the 1990s. Proportions for building and construction, electrical work, boilermaking and welding, and power station work peaked in the 2000s. Construction workers (21.7%) and Wittenoom workers (19.9%) accounted for the largest proportions overall. The proportion with no identifiable exposure (5.6%) did not differ significantly between decades. The authors concluded that the pattern reflected asbestos use in these occupations more than 30 years earlier, that occupational exposure remains the major cause, and that the WA epidemic will be finite.

  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 exposure during home renovation in New South Wales. R.A. Lemen, A.L. Frank, C.L. Soskolne, et al. 2014;200(6):315. Letter · Comment PubMed · Publisher

• Asbestos exposure during home renovation in New South Wales. A.R. Johnson, D.H. Yates. 2014;200(6):315. Letter · Comment PubMed · Publisher

• Asbestos exposure during home renovation in New South Wales. E.K. Park, D.H. Yates, R.A. Hyland, et al. 2013;199(6):410-3. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Objective: Asbestos exposure is causally associated with the development of malignant mesothelioma (MM), which is increasingly being reported after exposure to asbestos fibro sheeting in Australia. In this study, we investigate self-reported non-occupational asbestos exposure during home renovation in New South Wales.

  Design And Setting: Cross-sectional mailed questionnaire examining renovation activity, tasks undertaken during renovation and self-reported exposure to asbestos among respondents and their family members in NSW between January and June 2008.

  Participants: 10 000 adults aged 18-99 years, randomly selected from the NSW electoral roll. We received 3612 responses, while 365 questionnaires did not reach addressees, giving an overall response rate of 37.5%.

  Main Outcome Measures: Differences in self-reported asbestos exposure between do-it-yourself (DIY) and non-DIY renovators.

  Results: 1597 participants (44.2%) had renovated their home and among these, 858 participants (53.7%) self-reported as DIY renovators. Of these, 527 (61.4%) reported asbestos exposure during home renovations, 337 (39.3%) reported that their partner had been exposed to asbestos during renovations, and 196 (22.8%) reported that their children had been exposed. More than 20% of renovators planned to further renovate their current homes within the next 5 years.

  Conclusions: Self-reported asbestos exposure during home renovation is common. This preventable exposure could place adults and children at risk of MM many years into the future. Although such exposure is self-reported and ideally should be verified, this study identifies a potentially important problem in NSW.

• Increasing incidence of malignant mesothelioma after exposure to asbestos during home maintenance and renovation. N.J. Olsen, P.J. Franklin, A. Reid, et al. 2011;195(5):271-4. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Objective: To determine trends in incidence of malignant mesothelioma (MM) caused by exposure to asbestos during home maintenance and renovation.

  Design, Setting And Participants: Using the Western Australian Mesothelioma Register, we reviewed all cases of MM diagnosed in WA from 1960 to the end of 2008, and determined the primary source of exposure to asbestos. Categories of exposure were collapsed into seven groups: asbestos miners and millers from Wittenoom; all other asbestos workers; residents from Wittenoom; home maintenance/renovators; other people exposed but not through their occupation; and people with unknown asbestos exposure; or no known asbestos exposure. Latency periods and age at diagnosis for each group were calculated and compared.

  Results: In WA, 1631 people (1408 men, 223 women) were diagnosed with MM between 1960 and 2008. Since 1981, there have been 87 cases (55 in men) of MM attributed to asbestos exposure during home maintenance and renovation, and an increasing trend in such cases, in both men and women. In the last 4 years of the study (2005-2008), home renovators accounted for 8.4% of all men and 35.7% of all women diagnosed with MM. After controlling for sex and both year and age at diagnosis, the latency period for people exposed to asbestos during home renovation was significantly shorter than that for all other exposure groups, but the shorter follow-up and difficulty recalling when exposure first occurred in this group may partly explain this.

  Conclusions: MM after exposure to asbestos during home renovation is an increasing problem in WA, and these cases seem to have a shorter latency period than other types of exposure. MM cases related to renovation will probably continue to increase because of the many homes that have contained, and still contain, asbestos building products.

• Medicolegal aspects of the third wave of asbestos-related disease in Australia. J.R. Gordon, J. Leigh. 2011;195(5):247-8. Editorial · Comment PubMed · Publisher

  Summary

  In this commissioned editorial, a barrister and a public health physician discussed the legal issues raised by the "third wave" of asbestos-related disease in Australia. They described this wave as non-industrial users of asbestos products, including people who cut, fixed or demolished asbestos cement products during home renovation or maintenance, and family members who were present. The editorial accompanied a study by Olsen and colleagues that documented an upward trend in mesothelioma among home renovators. The authors stated that James Hardie and CSR had never systematically warned homeowners of the risks. Wunderlich, a CSR subsidiary, was the only other mainland manufacturer of asbestos cement building products. The authors argued that manufacturers owed a legal duty of care both to people who installed the products and to those who later demolished them. They identified the main disputed issues in mesothelioma claims as whether the manufacturer could and should have warned users, and whether limited exposure caused or contributed to the disease. They stated that no threshold for asbestos causation of mesothelioma had been demonstrated, and that a claimant with acceptable evidence of specific exposure, however slight, should succeed. They described incomplete coverage of the national mesothelioma register from 2001 onwards, welcomed the new Australian Mesothelioma Registry, and called for a complete global ban on asbestos. One author declared that he had appeared for plaintiffs in asbestos claims.

  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.

• Renovation and renewal. A. Katelaris. 2011;195(5):245. Editorial · Comment PubMed · Publisher

• Asbestos still poses a threat to global health: now is the time for action. P.D. Sly, R. Chase, J. Kolbe, et al. 2010;193(4):198-9. Editorial PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Australia should support international bans on asbestos trade.

2000s

• Early detection of malignant pleural mesothelioma through measurement of soluble mesothelin-related protein and positron emission tomography. E.L. O'Lone, E.K. Park, A. Sandrini, et al. 2009;190(3):158-9. Case report PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  A 51-year-old man with no known history of asbestos exposure presented with hydropneumothorax. Soluble mesothelin-related protein testing and combined positron emission tomography and computed tomography were used to diagnose malignant pleural mesothelioma. One year after radical surgery and radiotherapy, there was no clinical recurrence.

• Records of the Australian Mesothelioma Surveillance Program have been lost!. M. Hendrickx. 2008;188(9):552; author reply 552. Letter PubMed · Publisher

• Effects of asbestos and smoking on gas diffusion in people exposed to crocidolite. H.S. Alfonso, L. Fritschi, N.H. de Klerk, et al. 2005;183(4):184-7. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Objective: To examine the effects of asbestos exposure and tobacco smoking on the level and rate of change of the diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (DLCO).

  Design And Participants: A cohort study of 934 people (including both mine workers and town residents) exposed to crocidolite (blue asbestos) at the asbestos mines and in the town of Wittenoom, Western Australia, between 1943 and 1966. DLCO measurements were taken during a follow-up period from 1992 to 2002.

  Main Outcome Measures: Baseline levels of DLCO and change in levels over time.

  Results: 2980 DLCO measurements were done on 934 people (of whom 818 were men and 724 were workers) who underwent a median of 2 (range, 1-17) measurements during the follow-up period. Radiographic asbestosis at baseline and asbestos exposure at a younger age were associated with lower DLCO values. The average rate of decline in DLCO was 0.33 (95% CI, 0.31-0.35) units per year, plus an additional decrement of 0.22 (95% CI, 0.12-0.32) units per year if the participant had radiographic asbestosis at the beginning of the follow-up period. Compared with never-smokers, current smokers and ex-smokers had lower DLCO at baseline, but smoking status did not affect the change in DLCO during the follow-up period.

  Conclusions: Our results confirm a continuous deleterious effect of crocidolite on DLCO, especially on people with asbestosis. Smoking was associated with lower DLCO levels, but was not a significant predictor of rate of change in DLCO. Smoking status did not affect the relationships between crocidolite exposure and the level or rate of change of DLCO in this population.

1990s

• Asbestos-related pleural disease in Western Australian gold-miners. Y.C. Lee, N.H. De Klerk, A.W. Musk. 1999;170(6):263-5. Case report PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Three retired gold-mine workers from Western Australia (WA) were diagnose with asbestos-related pleural disease (two with pleural plaques and one with mesothelioma). Asbestos fibres have been found in air samples from WA gold-mines, and all three patients had worked in these mines (for five to 17 years) and had no other significant known asbestos exposure. To our knowledge, this is the first report of asbestos-related disease in gold-mine workers.

• Mesothelioma: is asbestos exposure the only cause?. J. Leigh. 1995;163(2):105-6. Comment · Letter PubMed

• Mesothelioma: is asbestos exposure the only cause?. D.J. Kilpatrick. 1995;163(7):392. Comment · Letter PubMed

• Mesothelioma: is asbestos exposure the only cause?. R.T. Gun. 1995;162(8):429-31. PubMed

  Abstract

  Background: Although a causal association between mesothelioma and occupational exposure to asbestos is beyond dispute, nearly all population-based studies of mesothelioma have found some proportion of cases with no history of asbestos exposure.

  Data: Incidences of mesothelioma in men and women not occupationally exposed to asbestos for the period 1980-1985 were generated from: (i) estimates of occupational exposure to asbestos in the general male population, obtained from population-based controls in a case-control study of incident cancer in South Australia; and (ii) National Mesothelioma Surveillance Program data. The incidence in men not occupationally exposed was 8.5 per 1,000,000 person-years, compared with 2.6 per 1,000,000 person-years in women, a difference of 5.9 per 1,000,000 person-years (90% confidence interval, 4.8-7.2).

  Conclusion: Mesothelioma without a history of asbestos exposure may be caused by asbestos in the general environment, but this fails to explain why such cases occur more commonly in men. Alternative explanations include the existence of another independent cause of mesothelioma, or of a co-factor which, combined with "environmental" levels of asbestos exposure, constitutes a sufficient cause. Such a risk factor is likely to be occupational, in which case mesothelioma may be expected to occur even after occupational asbestos exposures have been eliminated.

• Mesothelioma: is asbestos exposure the only cause?. R.T. Gun. 1995;163(6):334-5. Letter PubMed

• Non-asbestos-related mesothelioma: chance, bias, or a real phenomenon?. P. Glasziou. 1995;162(8):431-2. Comment PubMed · Publisher

• Asbestos-related diseases. M.R. Joseph. 1990;152(6):334. Letter PubMed

• Crocidolite and mesothelioma. G. Berry, N.H. de Klerk. 1990;152(6):330-1. Comment PubMed

• Low-level asbestos--the priorities are wrong. D. Ferguson. 1990;152(12):617-8. Editorial PubMed · Publisher

• Sarcomatous mesothelioma of the pleura with cerebral metastases. C. Nielsen, I.M. Hansen. 1990;153(10):625-6. Case report PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  A case of sarcomatous pleural mesothelioma in a 22-year-old woman is presented. There was no history of occupational exposure to asbestos. Twenty months after the first symptoms occurred the patient noticed weakness in the right arm. A computed tomography scan of the brain showed multiple metastases. The patient died 10 days later.

1980s

• Lung cancer in Australia. G. McLennan, D.M. Roder. 1989;150(4):206-7, 210-3. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Lung cancer is the leading cause of death of cancer in Australian men and the third leading cause in Australian women. Efforts are being made to reduce the incidence of this disease by smoking-cessation programmes and improved industrial hygiene, and these measures need to be encouraged strongly by all sectors of the community. On a population basis, insufficient evidence is available to justify screening procedures for the early detection of lung cancer in "at-risk" groups. Cure is possible by surgical resection in early cases. Improvements in therapeutic results with traditional cancer treatments largely have reached a plateau, but a number of newer therapies, and combinations of standard therapies, currently are being evaluated. Of particular interest is concurrent radiotherapy and chemotherapy in localized non-small-cell lung cancer; laser "debulking" in conjunction with radiotherapy in non-small-cell lung cancer, and biological response-modifying agents in non-small-cell and small-cell lung cancer. It is important that data be collected adequately to define epidemiological changes and to evaluate treatment results (including repeat bronchoscopy, to assess local control of tumour), and that the quality of life is recorded and reported in the evaluation process. Finally, phase-III studies in lung-cancer treatments require adequate numbers of subjects to enable meaningful conclusions to be achieve objectives within a reasonable study period.

• Malignant mesothelioma--the rising epidemic. D. Ferguson. 1989;150(5):233-5. PubMed · Publisher

  Summary

  In this editorial, the author commented on a study by Musk et al. in the same issue, which traced 674 Australian cases of malignant mesothelioma from 1947 to 1980. He argued that the rise in incidence was real rather than an artefact of better diagnosis. He cited unpublished data on 1400 cases collected by the Australian Mesothelioma Surveillance Program and Register since 1980. The overall incidence rate rose from 12.8 cases per million people aged 20 years or older in 1982 to 18.1 in 1986. The rate in men rose by over a quarter and the rate in women by nearly two-thirds. In 1982-1985 the rate in men in Western Australia (43.5 per million) far exceeded the national rate (27.0), which he explained by the Wittenoom crocidolite mine. Of 726 patients assessed by the Australian Mesothelioma Surveillance Program, past occupational exposure was 'definite' in 45%, 'probable' in 7% and 'possible' in 11%, and environmental exposure was found in 6%. He stated that risk depended on fibre type, size and persistence, and that the risk from chrysotile was probably zero unless it was contaminated by an amphibole. He expected incidence to rise for another 10 to 15 years and then decline. He called for continued surveillance, research on low-level exposure and observation of risk occupations such as asbestos removalists.

  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.

• Nine-year survival in a case of untreated peritoneal mesothelioma. P.E. Norman, D. Whitaker. 1989;150(1):43-4. Case report PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  A patient with malignant mesothelioma of the peritoneum, which has been untreated except for regular paracentesis for effusions, has remained alive and generally-well for nine years. The poor prognosis that usually is ascribed to this disease may not be applicable universally.

• Predictions of future cases of asbestos-related disease among former miners and millers of crocidolite in Western Australia. N.H. de Klerk, B.K. Armstrong, A.W. Musk, et al. 1989;151(11-12):616-20. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  In a cohort of 6502 male and 410 female former workers from the crocidolite (blue asbestos) mining and milling works at Wittenoom, Western Australia, there were 94 cases of malignant mesothelioma (12 cases of peritoneal mesothelioma), 141 cases of lung cancer and 356 successful compensation claims for asbestosis to the end of 1986. After adjusting for measured covariate effects by means of proportional hazards regression analysis, smooth curves were fitted to the resulting "underlying" incidence rates for malignant mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis, separately, and for mortality of any cause. By the use of these curves and individual risk estimates, predictions have been made of the future incidence of these diseases to the year 2020. With the assumption that all subjects who were not known to be dead or departed overseas still were alive at December 31, 1986, and excluding persons of more than 85 years of age, the number of new cases of mesothelioma is expected to rise to a peak of around 25 cases per year in 2010, with an expected total number of 692 cases of mesothelioma (95% confidence interval [CI], 394-990 cases) between 1987 and 2020. A total of 2898 deaths (95% CI, 2284-3511 deaths) of any cause is expected in the same period. New cases of lung cancer and asbestosis are expected to continue at roughly the current rates of eight and 17 cases per year, respectively, before declining after the year 2000, leading to totals of 183 cases (95% CI, 34-335 cases) and 482 cases (95% CI, 236-728 cases), respectively, being expected by the year 2020. Predictions that were based on the censoring of subjects at the date that they last were known to be alive resulted in slightly higher, but probably less accurate, estimates.

• The incidence of malignant mesothelioma in Australia, 1947-1980. A.W. Musk, P.J. Dolin, B.K. Armstrong, et al. 1989;150(5):242-3, 246. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Details of patients with malignant mesothelioma that was diagnosed in Australia before 1981 were obtained by searching all possible sources throughout Australia as far into the past as possible and up to and including 1980. The earliest patient with mesothelioma who was identified was diagnosed in Victoria in 1947. By 1980, 535 (81%) men and 123 (19%) women had been diagnosed with the disease; only 14 persons were aged less than 35 years at the time of diagnosis (the youngest person was 15 years of age). The incidence rate in subjects who were 35 years or older at diagnosis was less than 1.0 cases per million person-years until 1964-1968, and then it rose progressively to 15.5 cases per million person-years in 1979-1980. The highest rate (69.7 cases per million person-years) was observed in 65- to 74-year-old men in 1979-1980. The incidence rate in Western Australia was greater than were the rates in other states of Australia after the mid 1960s. Pleural mesotheliomas accounted for 88% of cases in which the site of the tumour was known; peritoneal mesotheliomas accounted for 10% of such cases and "other" sites for 2% of such cases. In 6% of cases the site was not specified. The exposure to asbestos was stated as "definite" in 59% of the cases with a recorded history of exposure: 8% of all the cases in the study had been exposed to crocidolite (blue asbestos) from Wittenoom Gorge in Western Australia. The age at diagnosis of patients with known exposure to asbestos was similar to that in those without known exposure. The increases in the incidence of malignant mesothelioma in Australia follow the published trends in the production and use of the amphibole varieties of asbestos in this country after a lag period of between 20 and 30 years.

• The rising epidemic of malignant mesothelioma. K.B. Orr. 1989;150(10):607. Comment · Letter PubMed

• Malignant mesothelioma. P.P. Taylor. 1988;148(10):542. Case report · Letter PubMed · Publisher

• Notification of malignant mesotheliomas. R. Barnes. 1988;148(2):106-7. Letter PubMed · Publisher

• Asbestos blues. C.E. Rossiter. 1987;147(4):162-3. Editorial PubMed · Publisher

• The Australian Mesothelioma Surveillance Program 1979-1985. D.A. Ferguson, G. Berry, T. Jelihovsky, et al. 1987;147(4):166-72. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  The Australian Mesothelioma Surveillance Program was planned in 1977 in order to improve diagnostic criteria, to monitor the incidence of the disease, to develop methods of counting lung fibres, and to explore occupational and other associations of mesothelioma. This paper presents a preliminary analysis of data that were collected between January 1, 1980 and December 31, 1985 on the pathological findings and the work and environmental history of 858 cases of mesothelioma. The annual incidence rate of mesothelioma in Australia was 15 per million population who were aged 20 years and over. This is more than the incidence rate of mesothelioma in any other country for which data are available. However, uncertainty over diagnostic criteria and the degree of ascertainment of cases places doubt on the validity of such comparisons. In 69% of cases, a history of work with or other exposure to asbestos was obtained. Due to the long interval between the first exposure to asbestos and the provisional diagnosis of a mesothelioma (up to 60 years), more than three-quarters of the 456 exposed cases first contacted asbestos in the years of its heavy use between 1930 and 1959. This article analyses cases by the industry and the occupation in which exposure to asbestos first occurred.

• Can one fibre cause cancer?. G.R. Kelman. 1985;143(2):92. Letter PubMed · Publisher

• Radiology in asbestos workers. B. Gandevia. 1985;142(7):424. Letter PubMed · Publisher

• Trends in mortality from malignant mesothelioma of the pleura, and production and use of asbestos in Australia. Z. Xu, B.K. Armstrong, B.J. Blundson, et al. 1985;143(5):185-7. PubMed

  Abstract

  Annual mortality from malignant mesothelioma of the pleura (MMP) in Australia (as represented by ICD8 codes 163.0 and 212.4, and ICD9 codes 163 and 212.4) increased in men aged 30 years and older from about 0.5/100 000 in 1968-1970 to 2.1/100 000 in 1983. Corresponding rates in women varied from 0.1/100 000 to 0.2/100 000 between 1968 and 1980, then rose to 0.3/100 000 in 1983. The rise in MMP mortality in men probably corresponds to the increasing use of asbestos, particularly amosite, in Australia during and after World War II. That production and importation of amosite and crocidolite in Australia reached a peak in 1958 may mean that peak mortality from MMP will not be reached until the 1990s (allowing a 35-year lag period). Substantial increases in importation and later production, of chrysotile in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s may lead to increases in the incidence of other asbestos-related cancers, not reflected in trends in the incidence of MMP.

• Use of information: environmental standards, assessments of risk, prevention and clinical implications. M.R. Becklake. 1985;143(2):63-4. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Information which relates morbidity or mortality to environmental conditions (exposure-response relationships) forms the basis for public health as well as for clinical action. For both types of action, the information base is the same, neither complete nor comprehensive. So, both types of action are based on hypothesis, the best available to explain the facts, but subject to review in the light of new facts. Even though the volume of information may be considerable, as in the case of asbestos, there are always gaps in knowledge to be bridged by judgement. This should be made on the basis of as complete an evaluation as possible of all the available evidence.

• Epidemiology of malignant mesothelioma in Western Australia. B.K. Armstrong, A.W. Musk, J.E. Baker, et al. 1984;141(2):86-8. PubMed

  Abstract

  Crocidolite was mined and milled at Wittenoom Gorge in Western Australia from 1943 to 1966. Between 1960-1964 and 1980-1982, the estimated incidence of malignant mesothelioma in Western Australia rose from 0.6/100 000 in men and less than 0.1/100 000 in women, aged 35 years or older, to 6.6/100 000 in men and 0.7/100 000 in women in this age group. Overall, 97 (70%) of 138 patients with malignant mesothelioma had definite or probable exposure to asbestos; 76 of these (55%) to Western Australian crocidolite. Of the latter 76 patients, 56 had worked in the mine or mill at Wittenoom and 4 had non-occupational exposure in the Wittenoom area; the remaining 16 had been exposed to crocidolite elsewhere in the State. There were only 4 (3%) patients with malignant peritoneal mesothelioma, of whom three had been exposed to crocidolite.

• Mesothelioma. B. Gandevia. 1984;141(2):80. PubMed

• Talc and mesothelioma. T.K. Ng. 1984;140(8):452-3. PubMed · Publisher

  Summary

  This leading article commented on a case report by Barnes and Rogers, published in the same issue, of pleural mesothelioma in a worker exposed to "industrial talc". The diagnosis was made by the Histopathology Panel of the Australian Mesothelioma Surveillance Programme. The only occupational exposure was 12 years of talc used as a separation agent in an artificial jewellery factory. The exposure was considered light: 500 g of talc every two months was used by 10 operators. The latency of 20 years was shorter than the 33-year average among workers compensated for mesothelioma in New South Wales. Fibre counting of lung tissue showed elevated levels of amosite. The author noted similar cases in Germany and the United States. He reviewed the mineralogy of talc, the minerals that occur with it, including tremolite, anthophyllite and rarely chrysotile, and how talc varies by source. He cited studies of cosmetic talc, including one in which fibres were found in all 20 consumer talcum powders sampled in New York from 1971 to 1975, with fewer fibre-containing samples from 1975 to 1978. He concluded that there was no evidence linking talc as a mineral with mesothelioma, that the risk from fibrous talcs depends on occupational hygiene, and that quality control of talc products is essential. Because talc has never been shown to contain amosite, he suggested that the fibres found were either not amosite or came from other exposure. The source of asbestos exposure in this case remained undetermined.

  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.

• Unexpected occupational exposure to asbestos. R. Barnes, A.J. Rogers. 1984;140(8):488-90. Case report PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  A 44-year-old woman with mesothelioma of the pleura presented for possible compensation to the Workers' Compensation (Dust Diseases) Board of New South Wales. No obvious asbestos exposure could be obtained from examination of the occupational history, yet examination of lung tissue revealed the presence of elevated levels of brown asbestos (amosite).

• Compensable asbestos-related disease in New South Wales. R. Barnes. 1983;2(5):221-4. PubMed · Publisher

• Lung-function reference values from Victorian power-industry workmen. R. Lazarus. 1982;2(3):121-4. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Reference values for a number of lung function tests performed on a group of apparently healthy Victorian power industry workmen are described. Most workers in this industry have had at least incidental exposure to a range of respiratory hazards, including asbestos dust, at some time in their working lives, but men who recalled handling asbestos materials were excluded from the study. Comparison with other published Australian data shows considerable variation. Differences such as measurement technique, equipment calibration, occupational factors, and selection bias must be considered when reference values from published reports are used for clinical or epidemiological purposes.

• Asbestos pollution and pleural plaques. 1981;1(9):444. Editorial PubMed · Publisher

• Prevalence of asbestos related lung disease among employees in non-asbestos industries. I. Young, S. West, J. Jackson, et al. 1981;1(9):464-7. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Employees from two non-asbestos industries wee examined to assess the prevalence of asbestos-related lung disease. Of the 214 employees, one suffered from a malignant mesothelioma of the pleura and in 13 (6.1%), pleural plaques were diagnosed radiologically. the plaques were symptomless and not associated with any disturbance in respiratory function. The sole source of asbestos fibre in one factory was the asbestos insulation surrounding steam and hot water pipes similar to that found throughout industry. Exposure occurred as the result of the way in which this insulation has been handled routinely in industry by people who have commonly been unaware either of their exposure or of its significance. In the second factory there was the possibility of additional exposure originating from a neighbouring industry that was a major consumer of asbestos. The results suggest that maintenance workers may be particularly at risk and that the presence of pleural plaques may be under-reported in the absence of a history of asbestos exposure to direct attention towards them. The presence of pleural plaques has important consequences for the individual and for others who have shared the work environment.

• Australian mesothelioma register. D. Ferguson, T. Ng. 1980;1(4):150-2. PubMed · Publisher

1970s

• Asbestos spraying, an occupational and environmental hazard. R. Barnes. 1976;2(16):599-602. Case report PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  This report describes the damage likely to be sustained by both workmen and the general population when asbestos is sprayed to buildings as an insulating and sound-proofing material.

  PubMed has no abstract for this study. This is the authors' abstract, copied from the article.

• The hazard of asbestos. 1976;2(16):588-90. Editorial PubMed · Publisher

• Asbestos as an industrial health hazard. 1973;1(3):92. PubMed · Publisher

• Inhalation of sodium chloride mist for sputum production. F. Heyworth. 1973;2(6):271-4. PubMed · Publisher

• Asbestos and malignant disease. R. Barnes. 1972;2(20):1107-12. PubMed · Publisher

  Summary

  This article described workers compensated for asbestosis under the New South Wales Workers' Compensation (Dust Diseases) Act, which was widened in 1967 to include asbestosis. Between February 1968 and the end of December 1971, the Dust Diseases Medical Authority recognized 51 claims for asbestosis. The author presented brief clinical histories of the 13 claimants who had since died, all men aged 44 to 66 years at assessment, covering exposure, smoking, symptoms, chest X-ray reports, pulmonary function and cause of death. Of the 13 deaths, 8 were from bronchogenic carcinoma and 3 from mesothelioma. One death was certified as myocardial infarction and one as congestive cardiac failure. The mean period from first exposure to death was 29.8 years for lung cancer and 29 years for mesothelioma. All who died of bronchogenic carcinoma were medium to heavy cigarette smokers. The mesothelioma deaths occurred at ages 49, 61 and 66 years. In none of these three cases was asbestosis obvious on X-ray, and no link with crocidolite rather than chrysotile could be found. The author noted bias: four patients were referred after a tumour had been diagnosed, leaving 7 malignant deaths among 13. An addendum reported that by August 1972, 15 of 19 deaths (74%) were from bronchogenic carcinoma or pleural mesothelioma. The author called for six-monthly review of compensated workers, a search for an asbestos substitute, and greater medical awareness of asbestos-related cancer.

  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.

• Inhalation of low concentrations of asbestos. 1972;1(17):839-40. PubMed · Publisher

1960s

• Fifteen cases of pleural mesothelioma associated with occupational exposure to asbestos in Victoria. J. Milne. 1969;2(14):669-73. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Fifteen cases of pleural mesothelioma occurring in Victoria are described. Occupational histories and the finding of asbestos bodies in lung tissue indicate a relationship between occupational exposure to asbestos and induction of pleural mesothelioma many years later. The exposure in some cases was relatively short but intense. Crocidolite or blue asbestos would seem to be particularly potent in the induction of these tumours.

  PubMed has no abstract for this study. This is the authors' abstract, copied from the article.

• The many faces of asbestos disease. E.O. Longley. 1969;2(21):1063-6. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Asbestosis is seen as one of the most significant medical problems deriving from industry in the present age. As not only asbestosis but also carcinoma of the lung and mesothelioma of the lung are accepted by the New South Wales Workers' Compensation (Dust Diseases) Board as compensable injuries provided that adequate industrial exposure to asbestos can be proven, it is important that all physicians should be acquainted with the three conditions and should, when they see conditions resembling carcinoma or mesothelioma of the lung, be alerted to make the fullest possible inquiries into the patient's industrial background and place of residence. The presence of asbestos bodies in the sputum or in the lung tissue indicates only that the patient has been industrially or environmentally exposed to asbestos, and not that the patient has pulmonary asbestosis.

  PubMed has no abstract for this study. This is the authors' abstract, copied from the article.

• Asbestos exposure and pleural mesotheliomas. R.H. Mortimer, C.B. Campbell. 1968;2(17):720-2. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Diffuse pleural mesothelioma is reported in two patients exposed to asbestos dust. The neoplasms were dissimilar in macroscopic and histological appearances. The criteria for classification as mesotheliomas are described. Asbestos bodies were found in the lungs of both patients, but minimal interstitial fibrosis was present. The significance of this finding, with particular reference to the development of neoplasia, is discussed.

  PubMed has no abstract for this study. This is the authors' abstract, copied from the article.

• Malignant pleural mesothelioma in an asbestos worker. J.C. McNulty. 1962;49(2):953-4. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  A case is reported of malignant pleural mesothelioma in an asbestos worker suffering from asbestosis and silicosis after two years' work in a blue asbestos mill 10 years previously.

  PubMed has no abstract for this study. This is the authors' abstract, copied from the article.

  In plain English

  This 1962 article was a case report from Western Australia about one man. He had worked as a surface gold miner from 1937 to 1946 and as a mill worker in a blue asbestos (crocidolite) mine from 1948 to 1950. In December 1959 a chest X-ray showed what appeared to be a small amount of fluid on the left side of the chest. When he returned in October 1960 he had weight loss, cough, breathlessness and night sweats. A new X-ray showed extensive thickening of the lining of the left chest, and his sputum contained asbestos bodies. A biopsy was reported as malignant pleural mesothelioma. He was treated with thiotepa and died in June 1961. Autopsy confirmed pleural mesothelioma, along with asbestosis, silicosis and bronchopneumonia in the lung. The author believed this was the first pleural mesothelioma reported in an asbestos worker outside South Africa. He wrote that his short exposure supported the idea that these tumours may arise after brief exposure to crocidolite in susceptible people, and that the gap between exposure and tumour was much shorter than previously reported. He noted that the earlier gold mining may have contributed to the silicosis.

  We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

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