Occupational hazards of pipe insulators

Our plain-English summary of Occupational hazards of pipe insulators, by W.T. Keane, M.R. Zavon (Archives of Environmental Health, 1966).

The study

• Authors: W.T. Keane, M.R. Zavon
• Journal: Archives of Environmental Health
• Published: 1966;13(2):171-84
• Cited by: 10 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. 001503).

In plain English

This 1966 article from the Kettering Laboratory, University of Cincinnati, examined the materials handled by Cincinnati-area members of the International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Asbestos Workers. It was prompted by one member's death from anthrax, traced to contaminated goat hair felt. Most of the article reviewed published literature on glass, asbestos-containing, plastic, adhesive and other insulating materials. The authors also analyzed adhesive solvents by gas chromatography and followed the 47 men listed as union members on Jan 1, 1939. By Jan 1, 1964, 33 had died, and the authors classified their death records by primary cause. Malignant neoplasms caused eight of these deaths, seven of them in men with more than 20 years in the trade. That was 24.2% of all deaths, with 9.1% from carcinoma of the lung and 6.1% from cancer of the caecum or sigmoid. The authors cautioned that the numbers were very small and the percentages not statistically significant. They concluded that most substances posed no serious hazard, that asbestos alone justified concern, and that the available data were insufficient for a conclusion.

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: Survey of the materials used by pipe insulators, consisting mainly of a literature review. It also included the authors' own gas chromatography analysis of adhesive solvents and a review of death records of local union members.
• Who was studied: Members of the International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Asbestos Workers in the Cincinnati area. For the mortality part: the 47 men on the union rolls on Jan 1, 1939, followed to Jan 1, 1964.
• Exposure: Insulating materials of all kinds: fibrous glass and foam glass; asbestos-containing products, including magnesium carbonate (magnesia) and hydrous calcium silicate insulation with 10% to 15% asbestos by weight; polyurethane and polystyrene; portland cement, asbestos cement and wheat paste; solvent-containing adhesives; hair felt and cork.
• Main results:
  • Of the 47 men on the Cincinnati union rolls on Jan 1, 1939, 33 had died during the 25-year period to Jan 1, 1964.
  • The authors obtained the death records of the 33 men who had died and classified them by recorded primary cause of death.
  • Malignant neoplasms caused the deaths of eight of these men. Seven of the eight had been employed in the insulating trade for more than 20 years.
  • Among the 33 deaths in this group, malignant neoplasms accounted for 24.2%.
  • Among the 33 deaths, 9.1% were from carcinoma of the lung and 6.1% from cancer of the caecum or sigmoid.
  • The authors stated that these percentages were not statistically significant.
  • The authors extracted solvents from selected adhesives and analyzed them by gas chromatography. The solvents discussed were toluene, ethanol and normal hexane. The authors judged that these adhesives presented no serious health hazard to insulators.
  • The authors reported that around 1965, only one of the four insulation contracting firms employing union men in Cincinnati regularly stocked asbestos insulation.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that most substances examined did not present a serious health hazard to insulators and that asbestos was the only insulating substance justifying concern. They added that their report and other available data were insufficient for an adequately based conclusion, and that they considered the data of Selikoff the most convincing.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • Both the population and the sample sizes in the mortality survey were very small.
  • The mortality data were not intended as proof of an association. They were an attempt, with limited data, to reveal any existing trend.

Topics

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

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Insulator.

Related studies

• Non-Malignant Respiratory Illnesses in Association with Occupational Exposure to Asbestos and Other Insulating Materials: Findings from the Alberta Insulator Cohort — S. Moitra, A. Farshchi Tabrizi, et al. (2020)
• Comparative quantitative evaluation of pleural fibrosis and its effects on pulmonary function in two large asbestos-exposed occupational groups--insulators and sheet metal workers — R. Lilis, A. Miller, et al. (1992)
• The nature, hazards and assessment of occupational exposure to airborne asbestos dust: a review — W.H. Walton (1982)
• Environmental and occupational health hazards associated with the presence of asbestos in brake linings and pads (1900 to present): a "state-of-the-art" review — D.J. Paustenbach, B.L. Finley, et al. (2004)
• Application of sprayed inorganic fiber containing asbestos: occupational health hazards — W.B. Reitze, W.J. Nicholson, et al. (1972)
• Use of death certificates in epidemiological studies, including occupational hazards: variations in discordance of different asbestos-associated diseases on best evidence ascertainment — I.J. Selikoff, H. Seidman (1992)

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