Past asbestos exposure among cable splicers

Our plain-English summary of Past asbestos exposure among cable splicers, by A. Fischbein, A.N. Rohl, A.M. Langer, et al (American Journal of Public Health, 1981).

The study

• Authors: A. Fischbein, A.N. Rohl, A.M. Langer, I.J. Selikoff
• Journal: American Journal of Public Health
• Published: 1981;71(11):1277-8
• Type of article: Case report
• Cited by: 1 article, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text
• In J-M's library: Johns-Manville's company medical library held a copy (J-M no. 001810).

In plain English

This letter to the editor described one patient: a 53-year-old former telephone cable splicer whose abnormal chest X-ray had been found on routine examination. From 1948 to 1952 he worked as a cable splicer's helper and often cut and applied "asbestos tape" to cables, work described as dust-generating. The tape protected surrounding structures from fire when a flame torch was used. The article did not name the asbestos fiber type. His X-ray showed increased interstitial markings in both lungs, diffuse pleural thickening, multiple calcified pleural plaques on the right side, and one prominent plaque on the left diaphragm. Lung function tests showed moderate obstruction, and he smoked one pack of cigarettes a day. There was no evidence of lead toxicity. The authors reported that asbestos tape was used mainly in the 1940s and 1950s, and that a current "glass tape" they analyzed was made of fibrous glass. The authors concluded that the case calls attention to asbestos exposure as a potential health hazard among telephone cable splicers. Because most splicers began as helpers, the authors wrote that they may be a large group with significant past exposure. This report describes one person and gives no rate.

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 (single patient) published as a letter to the editor
• Who was studied: one 53-year-old former telephone cable splicer who later worked as a supervisor for a public service electrical and gas company; abnormal chest X-ray found on routine examination
• Exposure: cutting and winding "asbestos tape" onto cables as a cable splicer's helper, 1948 to 1952; the tape was a fire retardant used when a flame torch was applied; fiber type not stated
• Main results:
  • The patient's chest X-ray showed diffuse pleural thickening and multiple calcified pleural plaques in the right side of the chest
  • The patient also had one prominent pleural plaque on the left diaphragm
  • The patient's lung function tests showed moderate obstruction; he smoked one pack of cigarettes per day
  • The patient showed no evidence of lead toxicity
  • Asbestos tape was used in this trade mainly in the 1940s and 1950s. A sample of the "glass tape" now in use, analyzed by the authors, was made of fibrous glass (fiber diameter printed as 7 to 10, apparently micrometers)
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the case calls attention to asbestos exposure as a potential health hazard among telephone cable splicers. Since most splicers began as helpers, they wrote, splicers may represent a large occupational group with significant past asbestos exposure.

Topics

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

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Asbestos Exposure.

Related studies

• Mortality and incidence of cancer among oil exposed workers in a Norwegian cable manufacturing company. Part I. Exposure conditions 1920-79 — A. Rønneberg, K. Skyberg (1988)
• Past exposure to asbestos and combustion products and incidence of cancer among Finnish locomotive drivers — P. Nokso-Koivisto, E. Pukkala (1994)
• Are current or future mesothelioma epidemics in Hong Kong the tragic legacy of uncontrolled use of asbestos in the past? — L.A. Tse, I.T. Yu, et al. (2010)
• Lung cancer risk in past asbestos workers a few decades after exposure cessation and prospects for screening — G. Mastrangelo, G. Marangi, et al. (2016)
• Endemic pleural disease associated with exposure to mixed fibrous dust in Turkey — A.N. Rohl, A.M. Langer, et al. (1982)
• Drywall construction and asbestos exposure — A. Fischbein, A.N. Rohl, et al. (1979)

Browse more research in American Journal of Public Health, or return to medical research.