Use of asbestos, health risks and induced occupational diseases in the former East Germany

Our plain-English summary of Use of asbestos, health risks and induced occupational diseases in the former East Germany, by W. Sturm, B. Menze, J. Krause, et al (Toxicology Letters, 1994).

The study

• Authors: W. Sturm, B. Menze, J. Krause, B. Thriene
• Journal: Toxicology Letters
• Published: 1994;72(1-3):317-24
• Type of article: Review
• Cited by: 8 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

In the period from 1960 to 1990 about 1.4 million tons of asbestos were imported and mainly processed into asbestos-cement products for the building industry. The production was concentrated in the former countries of Magdeburg and Dresden. In the past asbestos was primarily used as insulation and fire prevention material, etc. in the large-scale chemical industry. The asbestos was imported from the former Soviet Union, smaller amounts came from Canada. In the German Federal State of Saxony-Anhalt, approximately 600 asbestoses, almost 2700 pleural changes caused by asbestos, 843 asbestos-induced mesotheliomas and 787 bronchial and laryngeal carcinomas were recorded in the period from 1960 to 1990. A considerable percentage of the mesotheliomas are solely due to exposure to chrysotile asbestos.

In plain English

This article described asbestos use in the former East Germany and the asbestos-related occupational diseases recorded there. It drew on official statistics, industry figures and regional disease records rather than a formal epidemiological study design. About 1.4 million tonnes of raw asbestos were imported from 1960 to 1989, mainly from the former Soviet Union, and more than 70% was processed into asbestos-cement building materials. In the region that is now Saxony-Anhalt, records from 1960 to 1990 showed about 600 asbestoses, almost 2700 pleural changes caused by asbestos, 787 bronchial and laryngeal carcinomas and 1082 mesotheliomas, of which 843 were proven asbestos-related. Of 481 mesothelioma cases with information on the grade of asbestos, 67 (14%) were attributed to sole exposure to chrysotile. The average time from first exposure to death was about a decade shorter in the chrysotile-only group than after amphibole exposure, and ages at death were similar across exposure groups. The authors concluded that Russian chrysotile has a mesothelioma-inducing potential that may be smaller than that of amphiboles but is significant. The authors noted that occupational histories could not be obtained for some cases.

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: Descriptive report combining national import statistics, industry data and officially recorded occupational disease cases, with an analysis of mesothelioma cases grouped by type of asbestos exposure
• Who was studied: Occupational disease cases recorded from 1960 to 1990 in the region now forming the German state of Saxony-Anhalt: about 600 asbestoses, almost 2700 asbestos-caused pleural changes, 787 bronchial and laryngeal carcinomas and 1082 mesotheliomas. Of the mesotheliomas, 843 were proven asbestos-related, 812 had complete data for statistical evaluation, and 481 had detailed information on asbestos grade. National figures for East Germany were also reported.
• Exposure: Raw asbestos imported mainly from the former Soviet Union (Ural mountains), with smaller amounts of long-fibred grades from Canada (about 7% of imports). Smaller quantities of amphibole asbestos came from Mozambique and Italy, and small amounts of crocidolite arrived as semi-finished goods. More than 70% went into asbestos-cement building materials. Other uses included insulation, textiles, friction materials, gaskets and talcum powder (partly contaminated by anthophyllite and tremolite). The highest exposures were among insulation workers in the chemical industry, rubber manufacturing, the health care system, seed dressing agent manufacture and application, the automotive industry, and asbestos cement factories.
• Main results:
  • About 1.4 million tonnes of raw asbestos were imported into the former East Germany from 1960 to 1989.
  • In Saxony-Anhalt from 1960 to 1990, records identified about 600 asbestoses, almost 2700 pleural changes caused by asbestos, 787 bronchial and laryngeal carcinomas and 1082 mesotheliomas. Of the mesotheliomas, 843 were proven asbestos-related.
  • In East Germany in 1988, 5270 occupational diseases were officially recognized. Occupational cancers made up 6.1% of these, and 90% of the occupational cancers were caused by asbestos fibres.
  • Nationally, officially recognized new cases of occupational cancers (caused by asbestos fibres and chemical carcinogens) rose from 15 in 1970 to 319 in 1988. Asbestosis stayed relatively constant (170 in 1970, 202 in 1988), and silicosis fell from 943 to 282.
  • In the former county of Magdeburg, there were 58 asbestos-caused occupational cancers in 1988, more than one-fifth of the East German total that year.
  • Of 481 mesothelioma cases with detailed information on asbestos grade, sole exposure to chrysotile was determined to be the cause in 67 cases (14%).
  • The average time from first exposure to death from mesothelioma was about one decade shorter in the chrysotile-only group than after amphibole exposure: Table 5 gives 31 years for chrysotile versus 40 years for amphiboles.
  • The minimum, highest and average ages at death from diffuse malignant mesothelioma almost agreed across all exposure groups. Table 5 gives mean ages at death of 65 to 69 years by group and 66 overall.
  • Asbestos fibre concentrations measured at workplaces without suction devices varied considerably by material and working process.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that chrysotile asbestos from Russia has a mesothelioma-inducing potential which may be smaller than that of amphibole asbestos but is significant. In their opinion, even if chrysotile fibres persist in the body for a shorter time than amphibole fibres, they may persist long enough to cause chronic and progressive processes, including mesotheliomas.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • For some cases it was impossible to obtain information about the individual occupational history.
  • Because fibre concentrations varied widely between workplaces, exposure calculations based on catalogue data, and retrospective exposure assessment, could contain significant error.
  • The 1989 official import figure differed from industry data by about 13 000 tonnes. The authors could not trace this amount and believed it was likely not actually imported.

Topics

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

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Occupational Disease, Asbestos-Cement, Mesothelioma, Carcinoma, Chrysotile.

Related studies

• Asbestos-related diseases and asbestos types used in the former GDR — W. Sturm, B. Menze, et al. (1995)
• Occupational asbestos exposure as a risk factor for laryngeal carcinoma in a population-based case-control study from Germany — H. Ramroth, W. Ahrens, et al. (2011)
• Occupational cancer in Germany — I. Brüske-Hohlfeld (1999)
• Residential radon and risk of lung cancer in Eastern Germany — M. Kreuzer, J. Heinrich, et al. (2003)
• Occupational risk factors for renal cell carcinoma: agent-specific results from a case-control study in Germany. MURC Study Group. Multicenter urothelial and renal cancer study — B. Pesch, J. Haerting, et al. (2000)
• Occupational risk factors for lung cancer: a case-control study in West Germany — K.H. Jöckel, W. Ahrens, et al. (1998)

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