Potential source of asbestos in non-asbestos textile manufacturing company

Our plain-English summary of Potential source of asbestos in non-asbestos textile manufacturing company, by I.J. Yu, J.K. Choi, S.K. Kang, et al (Environment International, 2002).

The study

• Authors: I.J. Yu, J.K. Choi, S.K. Kang, H.K. Chang, Y.H. Chung, J.H. Han, K.S. Song, Y.M. Lee, H.K. Chung
• Journal: Environment International
• Published: 2002;28(1-2):35-9
• Type of article: Case report
• Cited by: 9 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Recently, a worker with lung carcinoma and a metastatic brain tumor was diagnosed as having a work-related disease. He had been employed in a non-asbestos textile company for 25 years. Consequently, to identify and explore possible causative agents for lung cancer in a non-asbestos textile manufacturing company and establish a causal relationship between exposure and lung cancer, an epidemiological investigative study was conducted and the work processes the worker was engaged in were examined. Air samples were taken from the workplace and during the drilling processes, and a suspected causative material was analyzed. The study revealed that the subject had been employed in the non-asbestos textile manufacturing company for 25 years from 1973 and his responsibilities included repairing spinning machines. In particular, the subject was involved in drilling B-bushings that were used to protect against gear abrasion in the spinning machines. An analysis of the B-bushings using a transmission electron microscope equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray analyzer indicated that they contained crocidolite asbestos fibers. Air samples obtained when drilling the B-bushings clearly indicated that the subject had most likely been exposed to crocidolite fibers when installing the B-bushings in the spinning machines. The frequency and duration of the work suggested that there would be a sufficient degree of exposure to crocidolite fibers to cause lung cancer. Except for smoking and asbestos exposure, no other chemical exposure was suspected for developing lung cancer in the workplace. Smoking appeared to be more of a potentiating risk factor in conjunction with the asbestos exposure. Accordingly, this case may provide significant evidence in identifying the cause of the mesothelioma or lung carcinoma found among workers in non-asbestos textile manufacturing companies elsewhere.

In plain English

This article reported on one worker and an investigation of his workplace, a Korean company the authors described as a non-asbestos textile manufacturer. It made artificial fibers by spinning polyacrylonitrile. The worker started there in 1973. From 1983 to July 1998 he repaired and tested gear pumps in the spinning machines. In 1998 he was diagnosed with bronchogenic carcinoma in the right upper lobe of the lung, with a metastatic brain tumor. He had smoked for 27 years. A Korean review committee judged the disease work-related, and he died in June 1999. Until 1987, the work included drilling holes in B-bushings, a gear-pump part. A pre-1987 B-bushing kept by workers was found by electron microscopy to contain crocidolite fibers. Air samples near the spinning and weaving machines in 1998 showed no asbestos fibers. When the sample bushing was drilled for 5 minutes, 0.75 crocidolite fiber/cc was measured near the drill and 0.3 fiber/cc in the breathing zone. No lung biopsy or autopsy was done. The authors concluded that such workers may inhale asbestos while repairing asbestos-containing parts.

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 of one worker combined with a workplace investigation (process review, analysis of a machine part, air sampling)
• Who was studied: One male worker, aged 50 in 1998, employed from November 1973 at a textile manufacturing company in Korea that produced artificial fibers
• Exposure: Drilling holes in asbestos-containing B-bushings (found to contain crocidolite) for gear pumps in spinning machines, until 1987 when Teflon–carbon B-bushings replaced them. Drilling 50 holes took 40–50 minutes and was done once every 2 months.
• Main results:
  • The worker was diagnosed with bronchogenic carcinoma in the right upper lobe with a metastatic brain tumor. Pleural cytology showed adenocarcinoma, and no lung biopsy was done.
  • Fibers in a pre-1987 B-bushing were identified as crocidolite by electron diffraction and energy dispersive X-ray analysis
  • Personal breathing zone air samples (20–40 minutes) taken near the spinning and weaving machines in December 1998 showed no asbestos fibers
  • Drilling the sample B-bushing for 5 minutes produced 0.75 crocidolite fiber/cc near the drill and 0.3 crocidolite fiber/cc in the breathing zone
  • The worker had smoked one pack of cigarettes per 3 days for 27 years
  • Seven more workers were found to have been involved in the drilling operation and were placed under a periodic health-check program
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that workers in a non-asbestos textile manufacturing company may be exposed to asbestos by inhaling fibers while repairing parts that contain asbestos. They also considered the worker's smoking more of a potentiating risk factor combined with his asbestos exposure.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • Asbestos fibers were not confirmed in a lung sample from the worker or in air samples from the workplace
  • No lung biopsy was taken for health reasons, and the family refused an autopsy

Topics

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

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Carcinoma, Lung Cancer, Crocidolite, Asbestos Exposure, Mesothelioma.

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