Sputum asbestos bodies and radiographic changes in residents of Wittenoom, Western Australia

Our plain-English summary of Sputum asbestos bodies and radiographic changes in residents of Wittenoom, Western Australia, by A.W. Musk, J.E. Baker, D. Whitaker (Community Health Studies, 1983).

The study

• Authors: A.W. Musk, J.E. Baker, D. Whitaker
• Journal: Community Health Studies
• Published: 1983;7(1):19-23
• Cited by: 2 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This study asked whether adults living in Wittenoom, Western Australia, showed signs of asbestos exposure. Wittenoom was a former crocidolite (blue asbestos) mining town whose streets and yards had been paved with mill tailings. In December 1980 the authors gave sputum jars to 86 residents aged 17 and over and examined the samples for asbestos bodies. Only 24 people returned satisfactory sputum. Asbestos bodies were found in one person, a 79-year-old man with work exposure to asbestos before he moved to the town. A radiologist and a chest physician separately read chest X-rays of 49 men and 29 women. The radiologist found lung changes compatible with pneumoconiosis in three people, all with past work exposure. Among residents with no known work exposure, the two readers agreed on pleural thickening in one person and disagreed about another. The authors concluded they had not found enough X-ray evidence of increased asbestos-related disease, but that the study does not exclude an environmental health hazard. They noted that their methods were probably insensitive to low exposure, that numbers were small with no comparison group, and that the town's population had declined.

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: Cross-sectional survey of current residents using sputum examination for asbestos bodies and review of chest radiographs (no control group)
• Who was studied: All residents of Wittenoom township aged 17 and over. Sputum jars went to 86 residents in December 1980, after 2 refused. Chest radiographs from a July 1980 voluntary survey were available for 49 males and 29 females, including 36 who took part in the sputum study.
• Exposure: Non-occupational (environmental) exposure to crocidolite from mill tailings used to pave the township. Residents were also asked about occupational asbestos exposure, how long they had lived in the town, and smoking.
• Main results:
  • Of 86 residents given sputum jars, 24 returned satisfactory samples containing alveolar macrophages. 31 gave saliva only, and no sample was received from 31.
  • Producing a satisfactory sputum specimen was related to cigarette smoking history, not to age or residential history.
  • Asbestos bodies were found in the sputum of only one subject: the oldest participant (79 years), who had occupational asbestos exposure before coming to Wittenoom, where he had lived for 13 years.
  • Observer 1 (the radiologist) judged 57 radiographs normal.
  • According to Observer 1, all three subjects with parenchymal changes compatible with pneumoconiosis had past occupational asbestos exposure.
  • Observer 1 judged two subjects without known occupational exposure, both current smokers, to have bilateral pleural changes that may have resulted from environmental exposure.
  • Among residents with no known occupational exposure, both observers agreed on pleural thickening in one person, who had lived in the town 5 years. They disagreed on one other, who had lived there 8 years.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the study did not find sufficient radiographic evidence of an increased prevalence of asbestos-induced pleural or parenchymal disease among current residents. They added that the study does not exclude an environmental health hazard.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • Sputum asbestos bodies and chest radiographs are probably insensitive indicators of low levels of exposure.
  • The methods for indicating past exposure levels were seriously limited, and the township's population had declined markedly, so the study does not exclude an environmental hazard.
  • Only 36 residents had lived in the town for 5 years or more.
  • No control population was used because of the small number of subjects.
  • Selective out-migration, possibly related to concern over past exposure, could have contributed to the lack of positive findings.

Mines named here

Asbestos mines this study is about. Each mine's page says who ran it, when it worked, and what it produced.

• Wittenoom, Western Australia

All asbestos mines

Topics

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

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Sputum, Asbestos Bodies, Wittenoom.

Related studies

• Prevalence of radiographic asbestosis in crocidolite miners and millers at Wittenoom, Western Australia — W.O. Cookson, N.H. De Klerk, et al. (1986)
• Asbestos in the sputum, crackles in the lungs, and radiologic changes in women exposed to asbestos — J.C. Davies, D. Kielkowski, et al. (2004)
• Morphology of bronchogenic carcinoma in workers formerly exposed to crocidolite at Wittenoom Gorge in Western Australia — J.E. Baker, D.C. Reutens, et al. (1986)
• Malignant pleural and peritoneal mesotheliomas in former miners and millers of crocidolite at Wittenoom, Western Australia — G. Berry, N.H. de Klerk, et al. (2004)
• Malignant mesotheliomas in former miners and millers of crocidolite at Wittenoom (Western Australia) after more than 50 years follow-up — G. Berry, A. Reid, et al. (2012)
• Familial aggregation of malignant mesothelioma in former workers and residents of Wittenoom, Western Australia — N. de Klerk, H. Alfonso, et al. (2013)

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