Routine lung function studies on 830 employees in an asbestos processing factory

Our plain-English summary of Routine lung function studies on 830 employees in an asbestos processing factory, by R. Hunt (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1965).

The study

• Author: R. Hunt
• Journal: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
• Published: 1965;132(1):406-20
• Cited by: 23 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. 002503).

Summary of the article

This interim report described the use of routine lung function tests to screen prospective employees and to assess workers exposed to chrysotile asbestos dust in an asbestos textile factory in the north of England. Testing began in 1960. The aims were to see whether asbestosis could be detected by lung dysfunction before X-ray or clinical changes appeared, whether X-ray evidence correlated with impaired function, and whether the tests could screen new employees. Normal values were derived from 260 males and 120 females not exposed to asbestos. The tests included gas transfer factor (10-second breath-holding), vital capacity, residual volume, functional residual capacity, timed vital capacity and other measures. By May 1964, 450 exposed men had been examined. Of these, 340 showed little or no departure from expected normal values. The other 110 showed a decreased gas transfer factor with falls in other measures, and 36 of them had a gas transfer factor below 60 per cent of predicted. Sixteen men and two women whose X-rays had been considered negative, but whose tests since 1960-61 had suggested interstitial fibrosis, were later diagnosed with asbestosis. Five were certified by the Pneumoconiosis Panel, and four died from asbestosis with associated lung neoplasms. The author concluded that lung function studies can detect asbestosis before it appears on X-ray and are valuable for pre-employment screening and for monitoring exposed workers.

PubMed has no abstract for this study, and the article doesn't print one. We wrote this summary from the full article with the help of AI. It is not the authors' wording.

In plain English

This interim report covered lung function tests used to screen applicants and check workers exposed to chrysotile dust at an asbestos textile factory in northern England. Normal values came from 260 unexposed men and 120 unexposed women. By May 1964, 450 exposed men had been tested. Of these, 340 showed little or no departure from expected normal values for gas transfer factor, vital capacity, residual volume and total lung capacity. The other 110 had reduced gas transfer factor plus falls in measures like vital capacity. Of those 110, 36 had a gas transfer factor below 60 per cent of predicted and markedly reduced lung volumes. Sixteen men and two women with X-rays read as negative had lung function results regarded as interstitial fibrosis since 1960-61. All of them were later diagnosed with asbestosis, and four died from asbestosis with associated lung neoplasms. The author concluded lung function tests can detect asbestosis before it shows on X-ray. The author called the work early-stage and said separating the 110 and 36 workers was only a simplification, with no statistical conclusions claimed.

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: Interim report of routine lung function testing in one factory, comparing exposed workers with a non-exposed reference group
• Who was studied: 450 exposed male workers examined up to May 1964 at an asbestos textile factory in the north of England, plus a reference group of 260 males and 120 females not exposed to asbestos (830 employees, as given in the title)
• Exposure: Chrysotile asbestos dust in an asbestos textile factory. Occupations could not be separated because many men had worked in more than one department.
• Main results:
  • Of the 450 exposed men, 340 showed little or no departure from expected normal values for gas transfer factor, vital capacity, residual volume and total lung capacity
  • The remaining 110 exposed men showed a decrease in gas transfer factor. This came with falls either in vital capacity, residual volume and 'K' factor, or in vital capacity and 'K' factor with residual volume normal.
  • Of these 110, 36 had a gas transfer factor of less than 60 per cent of predicted normal, and all 36 showed a marked reduction in lung compartment volumes
  • Sixteen men and two women had X-rays considered negative for asbestosis, but their lung function tests had been regarded as showing interstitial fibrosis since 1960-61. They were later diagnosed with asbestosis by a Chest Consultant.
  • Of these sixteen men and two women, five had been certified by the Pneumoconiosis Panel, and four had died from asbestosis with associated lung neoplasms
  • The timed vital capacity (1 second) did not appear useful in assessing early asbestosis
  • Pre-employment thresholds were set for exposed departments, including a gas transfer factor not less than 85 per cent of predicted normal
  • The author reported some evidence about men removed from exposure four to five years earlier, when signs of disease were minimal: they were maintaining a reasonable functional level compared with similar men who stayed in exposed departments.
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that the work had established the value of, and need for, lung function studies both as a pre-employment screen and as a health check on exposed workers. The author also stated that asbestosis can be detected by lung function studies before it shows in X-ray films.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The work was at an early stage and its value could not yet be fully or accurately assessed
  • Grouping the 110 and 36 workers separately was a simplification only, and no claim was made that statistical conclusions could be drawn from it
  • No pre-employment lung function figures were available for workers with more than five years of exposure
  • The exposed men could not be divided by occupation because many had worked in several departments

Topics

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

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Chrysotile, Interstitial Fibrosis, Pneumoconiosis, Neoplasm.

Related studies

• Lung function among asbestos cement factory workers: cross-sectional and longitudinal study — A. Siracusa, C. Cicioni, et al. (1984)
• Mortality among employees of an Ontario asbestos-cement factory — M.M. Finkelstein (1984)
• Mortality among long-term employees of an Ontario asbestos-cement factory — M.M. Finkelstein (1983)
• Asbestosis in long-term employees of an Ontario asbestos-cement factory — M.M. Finkelstein (1982)
• Malignant mesothelioma among employees of a Connecticut factory that manufactured friction materials using chrysotile asbestos — M.M. Finkelstein, C. Meisenkothen (2010)
• Mortality among employees of an Ontario factory manufacturing insulation materials from amosite asbestos — M.M. Finkelstein (1989)

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