Asbestos lung burden and asbestosis after occupational and environmental exposure in an asbestos cement manufacturing area: a necropsy study.

Abstract

Objective-The largest Italian asbestos cement factory had been active in Casale Monferrato until 1986: in previous studies a substantial increase in the incidence of pleural mesothelioma was found among residents without occupational exposure to asbestos.To estimate exposure to asbestos in the population, this study evaluated the presence of histological asbestosis and the lung burden of asbestos fibres (AFs) and asbestos bodies (ABs). Methods-The study comprises the consecutive series of necropsies performed at the Hospital of Casale Monferrato between 1985 and 1988. A sample of lung parenchima was collected and stored for 48 out of 55 necropsies. The AF concentration was measured with a TEM electron microscope with x ray mineralogical analysis. The ABs were counted and fibrosis evaluated by optical microscopy. The nearest relative of each subject was interviewed on occupational and residential history. Mineralogical and histological analyses and interviews were conducted in 1993-4. Results-Statistical analyses included 41 subjects with AF, AB count, and interview. Subjects without occupational exposure who ever lived in Casale Monferrato had an average concentration of 1500 AB/g dried weight (gdw); Seven of 18 presented with asbestosis or small airway lung disease (SAL). G2 asbestosis was diagnosed in two women with no occupational asbestos exposure. One of them had been teaching at a school close to the factory for 12 years. Ten subjects had experienced occupational asbestos exposure, seven in asbestos cement production: mean concentrations were 1.032×10 6 AF/gdw and 96 280 AB/gdw. Eight of the 10 had asbestosis or SAL. Conclusion-The high concentration of ABs and the new finding of environmental asbestosis confirm that high asbestos concentration was common in the proximity of the factory. Subjects not occupationally exposed and ever living in Casale Monferrato tended to have higher AB concentration than subjects never living in the town (diVerence not significant). The concentrations of ABs and AFs were higher than those found in other studies on nonoccupationally exposed subjects. (Occup Environ Med 1998;55:840-846)

Simian virus 40 sequences in blood specimens from healthy individuals of Casale Monferrato, an industrial town with a history of asbestos pollution

“…According to the cancer registry data, the incidence of MM in the general population in this Italian town is about 10 times higher than in other Italian areas. 4 Living in Casale Monferrato was associated with a high risk of developing MM, with a spatial trend with increasing distance from the asbestos cement factory. 5 Another study carried out in this town showed that residents are at higher risk for environmental and domestic exposure to asbestos.…”

The impact of malignant pleural mesothelioma throughout Italy in the years 1995–2002: a geo-referenced study relating death rate to population distribution

“…Such increasingly higher and higher SMR values for women are now attributed to occupational contact with asbestos (Ferrante et al 2007;Mirabelli et al 2007), as women too were involved directly in several stages of asbestos-cement preparation, although their exposure was never as high as the male workers. Previously, those values had been explained as resulting from non-occupational domestic exposure (Botta et al 1991;Magnani et al, 1993Magnani et al, , 1995Magnani et al, , 1998Magnani et al, , 2000Magnani et al, , 2001cf. Magnani 2001).…”

Asbestos-induced peritoneal mesothelioma in a construction worker.

“…Occupational and environmental asbestos exposure may cause asbestosis (evolutive lung fibrosis), pleural fibrosis and calcification, lung cancer, and mesotheliomas, with a risk proportional to the duration and intensity of exposure (Antman 1993;Magnani et al 1998;Rom et al 2001;Rubino et al 1972;Selikoff 1978). The first reports on the carcinogenic effect of asbestos on the lung date back to 1935 (Gloyne 1935;Lynch and Smith 1935), whereas asbestos-related mesotheliomas, both pleural (Wagner et al 1960) and peritoneal (Keal 1960), were first described in 1960.…”