Preface: Respirable elongated mineral particles and human health-Revisited

Our plain-English summary of Preface: Respirable elongated mineral particles and human health-Revisited, by R.F. Dodson (Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health. Part B, Critical Reviews, 2016).

The study

• Author: R.F. Dodson
• Journal: Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health. Part B, Critical Reviews
• Published: 2016;19(5-6):149-150
• Type of article: Editorial
• Cited by: 3 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This is a two-page preface the author wrote as guest editor of a 2016 special issue of the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part B, on respirable elongated mineral particles and human health. It is not a study and reports no new data. It introduces the review papers in the issue. The author stated that it is a misconception that asbestos has been banned in the United States. An EPA rule from July 1989 was, in large part, vacated and remanded by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in 1991, leaving six banned product categories. The author described confusion over the word "asbestos". OSHA regulations use it for fibrous forms of chrysotile, amosite, crocidolite, actinolite, tremolite and anthophyllite, but it is sometimes applied to other fibrous minerals. The author noted that OSHA considers current U.S. work rules to still carry a significant cancer risk. The author also noted that mesothelioma can occur after lower exposures, such as take-home exposures, and that its latency is often 30 years or longer from first exposure. The author concluded that much remains to be learned, including about risks from nonasbestos elongated particles.

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: Editorial preface by the guest editor introducing a special journal issue of review papers; not a research study
• Who was studied: No people or animals were studied; the preface introduces review papers in the special issue, some of which describe mesothelioma in several countries
• Exposure: Asbestos (the six OSHA-regulated fibrous minerals) and nonasbestos elongated mineral particles, in occupational and environmental or secondary exposures
• Main results:
  • The author stated that the EPA's July 1989 "Asbestos Ban and Phaseout Rule" was, in large part, vacated and remanded by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in 1991. Six asbestos-containing product categories remained banned: corrugated paper, rollboard, commercial paper, specialty paper, flooring felt, and new uses of asbestos.
  • The author described confusion over the term "asbestos". OSHA regulations use it for the fibrous forms of chrysotile, amosite, crocidolite, actinolite, tremolite and anthophyllite, but it is sometimes applied to other fibrous minerals.
  • The author noted that OSHA considers the work rules presently in place in the United States to still carry a significant risk for development of cancer.
  • The author noted that mesothelioma can occur in people with lower exposures, such as take-home or bystander exposures.
  • The author noted that the latency for development of mesothelioma is often 30 years or longer from first exposure.
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that there is still much to learn about respirable elongated mineral particles and the induction of disease, including risks from an increasing array of nonasbestos elongated particles.

Topics

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

Related studies

• Does qualitative examination of Elongated Mineral Particles (EMP) recovered from human and animal lungs provide reliable information on their carcinogenic and other effects? — B.W. Case (2018)
• Morphological and chemical mechanisms of elongated mineral particle toxicities — A.E. Aust, P.M. Cook, et al. (2011)
• Tissue burden evaluation of elongated mineral particles in two individuals with mesothelioma and whose work history included manufacturing tile — R.F. Dodson, L.W. Poye (2020)
• Five years update on relationships between malignant pleural mesothelioma and exposure to asbestos and other elongated mineral particles — P. Andujar, A. Lacourt, et al. (2016)
• Mechanistic in vitro studies: What they have told us about carcinogenic properties of elongated mineral particles (EMPs) — B.T. Mossman (2018)
• Dimensions of elongated mineral particles: a study of more than 570 fibers from more than 90 cases with implications for pathogenicity and classification as asbestiform vs. cleavage fragments — V.L. Roggli, C.L. Green (2019)

Browse more research in Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health. Part B, Critical Reviews, or return to medical research.