Occupational and nonoccupational exposures to asbestos

Our plain-English summary of Occupational and nonoccupational exposures to asbestos, by W.C. Hueper (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1965).

The study

• Author: W.C. Hueper
• Journal: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
• Published: 1965;132(1):184-95
• Cited by: 25 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher
• In J-M's library: Johns-Manville's company medical library held a copy (J-M no. 002502).

Summary of the article

This narrative review described the sources and types of occupational and nonoccupational exposure to asbestos and the groups of people exposed. It drew on published reports from many countries. The author cited an estimated 700 cases of asbestosis among about 8,000 asbestos industry employees in Germany in 1946, and 125 cases among 476 workers of one company in Finland. Among 132 workers examined by Bohme, 29 per cent had radiologic signs of asbestosis, rising from 5 per cent with less than three years' exposure to 79 per cent with over 10 years. A table compiled a total of 240 reported cases of lung carcinoma in people with asbestosis from several countries. World asbestos production was reported to have risen from 500 tons in 1880 to over 2,000,000 tons in 1958, with chrysotile making up about 95 per cent. The review covered exposures in ore mining and milling, asbestos cement production and use, textile manufacture and other products, as well as exposure of residents near plants and in homes. The author estimated that 50,000 to 100,000 people in the United States had contact with asbestos. He concluded that rising production had widened exposure, that reports of asbestosis and asbestos cancer came from a growing number of countries, that information on exposed workers and disease was fragmentary, especially in the United States and Canada, and that workmen's compensation laws in many places gave inadequate protection.

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.

In plain English

This article was a narrative overview, not a new study. The author, at the National Cancer Institute, reviewed published reports on occupational and nonoccupational exposure to asbestos dust. The author noted that world asbestos production had passed 2,000,000 tons in 1958 and that chrysotile made up about 95 per cent of asbestos produced. The article listed jobs and products involving asbestos, including mining and milling, asbestos cement, insulation and textiles. It also listed nonoccupational groups, such as people living near asbestos plants or in houses with asbestos insulation. A table compiled previously reported cases of lung cancer in people with asbestosis from several countries. The author estimated that between 50,000 and 100,000 people in the United States had manifest, suspected or possible contact with asbestos. The author also remarked that no large-scale observations on incidence, morbidity and mortality rates of asbestosis and asbestos cancers had been published from the American asbestos industry. The author concluded that exposure had widened, that information on exposed workers was fragmentary, and that defective compensation laws left asbestos workers inadequately protected.

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: Narrative review of published reports on sources of asbestos exposure and exposed population groups (no original data collected)
• Who was studied: No study sample. The article described occupational groups and nonoccupational groups, drawing on reports from many countries. Occupational groups included miners, millers, cement and plaster workers, insulators and textile workers. Nonoccupational groups included residents near asbestos plants, people along trucking routes and inhabitants of houses with asbestos insulation.
• Exposure: Inhaled asbestos dust, mainly chrysotile (about 95 per cent of asbestos produced). Amosite and crocidolite were described as of comparatively minor and regional importance. Products and processes listed included mining, milling, asbestos cement and plaster, insulation and textiles.
• Main results:
  • The author estimated that the number of people in the United States with manifest, suspected or possible contact with asbestos was between 50,000 and 100,000.
  • The author reported that world asbestos production had risen to over 2,000,000 tons in 1958 and was still rising.
  • The article included a table compiling previously reported cases of lung carcinoma in people with asbestosis from several countries.
  • The author noted that no large-scale observations on incidence, morbidity and mortality rates of asbestosis and asbestos cancers had been published from the American asbestos industry.
  • The author reported that compensability of asbestosis was denied in North Carolina in 1937, and that a court appeal confirmed this decision.
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that rising asbestos production had widened exposure to asbestos dust for a greater number and variety of workers. The author also concluded that information on exposed workers and disease occurrence was fragmentary, and that defective workmen's compensation laws left asbestos workers inadequately protected.

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Asbestosis, Lung cancer.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Carcinoma, Chrysotile, Asbestos-Cement.

Related studies

• Occupational exposures and cancer of the larynx-systematic review and meta-analysis — S. Paget-Bailly, D. Cyr, et al. (2012)
• Occupational exposures and risk of stomach cancer by histological type — M. Santibañez, J. Alguacil, et al. (2012)
• Pancreatic cancer and occupational exposures — T. Kauppinen, T. Partanen, et al. (1995)
• Breast cancer and occupational exposures in women in Finland — E. Weiderpass, E. Pukkala, et al. (1999)
• Occupational exposures and colorectal cancers: a quantitative overview of epidemiological evidence — E. Oddone, C. Modonesi, et al. (2014)
• A case-control study of the relationship between the risk of colon cancer in men and exposures to occupational agents — M.S. Goldberg, M.E. Parent, et al. (2001)

Browse more research in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, or return to medical research.