Malignant mesothelioma from neighborhood exposure to anthophyllite asbestos

Our plain-English summary of Malignant mesothelioma from neighborhood exposure to anthophyllite asbestos, by W.N. Rom, S.P. Hammar, V. Rusch, et al (American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 2001).

The study

• Authors: W.N. Rom, S.P. Hammar, V. Rusch, R. Dodson, S. Hoffman
• Journal: American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• Published: 2001;40(2):211-4
• Type of article: Case report
• Cited by: 14 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Background: Anthophyllite asbestos has been reported to cause asbestosis, lung cancer, mesothelioma, and pleural plaques in occupationally exposed workers. Anthophyllite has also been associated with pleural plaques in Finland and Japan among those who live near mines and mills and have neighborhood or environmental exposure.

Methods: We evaluated a 38-year-old patient with pleural mesothelioma who lived, attended school, and delivered newspapers near a manufacturing facility that used exclusively anthophyllite asbestos fiber from ages 8-17 years. He had no work exposure to asbestos.

Results: The pleural mesothelioma was an epithelial type with tubulopapillary structures and was treated with an extrapleural pneumonectomy followed by radiation therapy. The malignant cells were positive by immunohistochemistry for cytokeratin but negative for carcinoembryonic antigen, S100, B72.3, and leu M1 antigen. Anthophyllite fibers were > 5 microm in length in lung tissue compared to 3 microm from a general population study.

Conclusions: Anthophyllite asbestos has been associated with neighborhood environmental exposure and pleural plaques; we now report a neighborhood exposure and pleural mesothelioma.

Copyright 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

In plain English

This article was a case report about one patient: a 38-year-old man with malignant pleural mesothelioma who had never worked with asbestos. As a child he lived three-quarters of a mile from a U.S. plant that made tanks and piping systems. He attended elementary school a quarter of a mile from the plant, played in a field between the school and the plant, and delivered newspapers in the surrounding neighborhood. The plant imported 4.5 million pounds of Finnish anthophyllite asbestos from December 1964 to January 1972, which overlapped his ages of about 8 to 16. A 1978 plant tour noted a roof blower scattering asbestos fibers into the air. In 1994 a biopsy showed epithelial-type diffuse malignant mesothelioma. He was a lifelong non-smoker. He was treated with surgery to remove the lung and pleura, followed by radiation. Electron microscopy found anthophyllite fibers longer than 5 micrometers in his lung tissue and in a lymph node. A general population study had found an average length of 2.97 micrometers. The authors concluded that neighborhood exposure to anthophyllite was a likely cause of his pleural mesothelioma.

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

What the study did and found

• Design: case report (one patient)
• Who was studied: One man, born in 1956, who grew up near an asbestos product manufacturing plant in the U.S. He presented in 1994 at age 38. He had no work exposure to asbestos and was a lifelong non-smoker.
• Exposure: Neighborhood (non-occupational) exposure in childhood to anthophyllite asbestos from a plant that made tanks and piping systems. The plant imported 4.5 million pounds of Finnish anthophyllite from December 1964 to January 1972 and used anthophyllite exclusively. The patient lived 3/4 mile away, went to school 1/4 mile away, played in a field between the school and the plant, and delivered newspapers nearby. A 1978 industrial hygiene tour noted a roof blower scattering asbestos fibers.
• Main results:
  • In 1994 the patient had left-sided chest pain, shortness of breath and a left pleural effusion. Biopsy showed diffuse malignant mesothelioma of the epithelial type with tubulopapillary structures.
  • He was treated with extrapleural pneumonectomy with lymph node dissection and diaphragm resection, followed by radiation to the left chest at a dose of 5000 cGy.
  • Analytical transmission electron microscopy found anthophyllite asbestos in digested lung tissue and in a thoracic lymph node, with fibers longer than 5 micrometers.
  • For comparison, the average anthophyllite fiber length in a general population study was 2.97 micrometers. That figure comes from another study cited by the authors.
  • The patient was a lifelong non-smoker and had no work exposure to asbestos.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that anthophyllite asbestos had been shown to produce all types of asbestos-related disease, and they added neighborhood exposure to anthophyllite as a likely cause of diffuse pleural malignant mesothelioma.

Topics

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

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Malignant Mesothelioma, Environmental Exposure, Anthophyllite, Lung Cancer, Mesothelioma, Pleural Plaques, Pleural Mesothelioma, Tubulopapillary.

Related studies

• Re: Malignant mesothelioma from neighborhood exposure to anthophyllite asbestos — M. Kottek, D. Kilpatrick (2002)
• Anthophyllite asbestos: state of the science review — S.H. Gaffney, M. Grespin, et al. (2017)
• Incidence of cancer among anthophyllite asbestos miners in Finland — L.O. Meurman, E. Pukkala, et al. (1994)
• Four cases of mesothelioma among Finnish anthophyllite miners — A. Karjalainen, L.O. Meurman, et al. (1994)
• Rat model demonstrates a high risk of tremolite but a low risk of anthophyllite for mesothelial carcinogenesis — D. Aierken, Y. Okazaki, et al. (2014)
• Rarity of mineral fibre pleurisy among persons exposed to Finnish anthophyllite and with low risk of mesothelioma — G. Hillerdal, A. Zitting, et al. (1984)

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