Occupational Diseases Of The Lungs

Our plain-English summary of Occupational Diseases Of The Lungs, by J.F. Gardiner (1955).

The study

• Author: J.F. Gardiner
• Published: Nebraska State Medical Journal 40(8):285-289, August (1955)
• Type of article: Journal article
• Our copy: from Johns-Manville's own medical library, J-M no. 001859. The article is still under copyright, so we describe it here rather than post it.

In plain English

This 1955 article was a narrative review of occupational lung diseases caused by inhaling irritating or toxic dusts or fumes; it called the dust diseases of the lungs pneumoconioses. It reported no new study of patients or workers. The author described asbestos as hydrated magnesium silicate, with exposure in trades using it for packing, insulating or fire-proofing, or in textile processes. The author wrote that asbestosis has signs and symptoms like those of silicosis, that tuberculosis is a less frequent complication than in silicosis, and that the pneumoconiotic lung is more prone to carcinoma in asbestosis. Citing Pendergrass, the article said X-ray findings in asbestosis are largely limited to the lower half or two-thirds of the lungs and that X-ray diagnosis of early asbestosis is unreliable. It gave the average time to develop asbestosis as seven to nine years at fairly high dust concentration and fifteen to twenty years at lesser concentration. It said the disease keeps progressing even after exposure stops. The author concluded that silicate dusts such as asbestos, talc and diatomaceous earth produce disabling pneumoconiosis.

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 occupational lung diseases. No original data were collected.
• Who was studied: No study population. The article reviews lung diseases from dusts and fumes, including silicosis, anthracosilicosis, asbestosis, talc, diatomaceous earth, berylliosis and so-called inert dusts.
• Exposure: Occupational asbestos exposure in trades where asbestos is used for packing, insulating or fire-proofing, or combined with cotton or other material in textile processes. No fiber type is named; the article describes asbestos as hydrated magnesium silicate. Silica and other dusts are also discussed.
• Main results:
  • The author stated that the signs and symptoms of asbestosis are similar to those of silicosis, and that tuberculosis is a less frequent complication than in true silicosis.
  • The author stated that the pneumoconiotic lung is more prone to carcinoma in asbestosis, uranium mining, and exposure to dusts containing chromium.
  • Citing the experience of Pendergrass, the article stated that X-ray findings in asbestosis are largely limited to the lower half or two-thirds of the lung fields, while silicosis also involves the upper portions.
  • The article reported that Pendergrass considers X-ray diagnosis of early asbestosis unreliable. The condition must be moderately or markedly advanced before X-rays can distinguish it.
  • The time needed to develop asbestosis was given as, on average, seven to nine years in a fairly high dust concentration and fifteen to twenty years with lesser concentration.
  • The allowable concentration was given as 10,000,000 particles per cubic foot of air, for particles between 0.5 and 5.0 microns in size.
  • Once established, asbestosis was described as progressive, even after exposure stops.
  • The author wrote that most investigators hold that only free (crystalline) silica and asbestos, a silicate, can produce disabling pulmonary fibrosis.
  • The author stated that disabling pneumoconioses are gradually becoming non-existent as a result of industrial dust control measures.
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that, besides silica, other silicate dusts such as asbestos, talc and diatomaceous earth produce disabling pneumoconiosis.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Occupational Disease, Occupational Lung Disease, Silicate, Silicosis, Carcinoma, Talc, Pneumoconiosis.

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