Porcelain factory worker with asbestos-related mesothelioma

Our plain-English summary of Porcelain factory worker with asbestos-related mesothelioma, by C. Mensi, A. Garberi, C. Sieno, et al (Journal of the Formosan Medical Association = Taiwan Yi Zhi, 2010).

The study

• Authors: C. Mensi, A. Garberi, C. Sieno, L. Riboldi
• Journal: Journal of the Formosan Medical Association = Taiwan Yi Zhi
• Published: 2010;109(5):389
• Type of article: Comment, Letter
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This was a letter to the editor reporting registry observations, not a full research article. It responded to an earlier case report by Tsou and Luo in the same journal and carries the same title as that report. The authors, from Milan, described the Lombardy Mesothelioma Registry. Since 2000 the registry had collected all new cases of malignant mesothelioma of the pleura, peritoneum, pericardium and tunica vaginalis of testis in residents of Lombardy, a northern Italian region of about 9.1 million people. Asbestos exposure histories came from patients or their next of kin through a standardized questionnaire given by trained interviewers. Among the 1848 malignant mesothelioma cases the registry had analyzed since 2000, six people had previously worked in porcelain factories. The authors listed how asbestos had been used in these factories: as paneling in furnaces, in refractory plates, in trolleys carrying raw pottery into furnaces, in the balls of ball-mills, and in gloves and hot pads used to handle hot pottery. The letter did not give the fiber type, the site of the six workers' mesotheliomas, or a stated 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: letter to the editor reporting cases from a regional mesothelioma registry, written in response to a published case report
• Who was studied: incident cases of malignant mesothelioma (pleura, peritoneum, pericardium, tunica vaginalis of testis) in residents of the Lombardy region, northern Italy (estimated population 9.1 million), collected by the Lombardy Mesothelioma Registry since 2000; 1848 cases analyzed, six of whom had worked in porcelain factories
• Exposure: asbestos used in porcelain factories: furnace paneling, refractory plates, trolleys carrying raw pottery into furnaces, balls of ball-mills, and protective gloves and hot pads; fiber type not stated; exposure history obtained by standardized questionnaire
• Main results:
  • Of the 1848 malignant mesothelioma cases analyzed by the registry since 2000, six people had previously been employed in porcelain factories
  • The factories had made ceramic sanitary ware, tiles, tableware, and household and gift items
  • Asbestos gloves and hot pads were used as personal protection when handling hot pottery

Topics

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

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

Related studies

• Porcelain factory worker with asbestos-related mesothelioma — M.T. Tsou, J.C. Luo (2009)
• Impact of an asbestos cement factory on mesothelioma incidence in a community in Italy — D. Consonni, S. De Matteis, et al. (2020)
• The upholsterer and the asbestos — C. Mensi, A. Garberi, et al. (2009)
• Impact of an asbestos cement factory on mesothelioma incidence: global assessment of effects of occupational, familial, and environmental exposure — C. Mensi, L. Riboldi, et al. (2015)
• Asbestos Exposure and Malignant Mesothelioma in Construction Workers-Epidemiological Remarks by the Italian National Mesothelioma Registry (ReNaM) — A. Binazzi, D. Di Marzio, et al. (2021)
• Malignant mesothelioma among employees of a Connecticut factory that manufactured friction materials using chrysotile asbestos — M.M. Finkelstein, C. Meisenkothen (2010)

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