scholarly journals Two cases of asbestosis and one case of rounded atelectasis due to non-occupational asbestos exposure

2016 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
S.M. Candura ◽  
A. Binarelli ◽  
G. Ragno ◽  
F. Scafa
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Diseases ◽  
Asbestos Exposure ◽  
Occupational Exposures ◽  
Respiratory Illnesses ◽  
Pleural Plaques ◽  
Long Latency ◽  
Asbestos Cement ◽  
Progression Of Disease ◽  
Contaminated Area

Asbestos is a well-known cause of several neoplastic (malignant mesothelioma, lung cancer) and non-neoplastic (asbestosis, pleuropathies) occupational diseases. Lower-level exposure in the general environment may induce pleural plaques and thickenings, and is associated with an increased mesothelioma risk. We present two patients (a 68-year-old man and a 72-year-old woman) who developed asbestosis (in association with pleural plaques and calcifications), and a 78-year-old man who developed rounded atelectasis (with pleural plaques and benign effusion), after living for several decades in the proximity of large Italian asbestos-cement plant. None of them had been exposed to asbestos occupationally. Besides living in a contaminated area, the woman used to clean the work clothes of her brother, who was employed in the local asbestos factory. The three cases indicate that non-neoplastic, long-latency asbestos-related diseases which are usually observed as a consequence of occupational exposures, may rarely develop in subjects living in contaminated geographical sites and buildings. These unusual environmental diseases raise the diagnostic problem of differentiating them from other, more common respiratory illnesses, and impose the duties of patient notification, assessment and follow-up, to assess the possibility of progression of disease and increased neoplastic risk.

scholarly journals Asbestos exposure and haematological malignancies: a Danish cohort study

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (10) ◽  
pp. 949-960
Author(s):  
Else Toft Würtz ◽  
Johnni Hansen ◽  
Oluf Dimitri Røe ◽  
Øyvind Omland
Keyword(s):  
Cox Regression ◽  
Haematological Malignancy ◽  
Asbestos Exposure ◽  
Production Plant ◽  
Haematological Malignancies ◽  
Asbestos Cement ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Reference Cohort

Abstract Environmental asbestos exposure and occupational asbestos exposure increase the risk of several types of cancer, but the role of such exposures for haematological malignancies remains controversial. We aimed to examine the risk of haematological malignancies: first, in subjects exposed early in life, independently of any occupational exposure occurring later; second, in subjects exposed occupationally. We established an environmentally exposed cohort from four schools located near the only former asbestos cement production plant in Denmark. We identified nearly all pupils in the seventh grade and created an age and sex-matched 1:9 reference cohort from the Danish Central Population Register. Participants were born 1940–1970 and followed up in national registers until the end of 2015. Occupational asbestos exposure was assessed for all participants using two different job exposure matrices. The school cohort included 12,111 participants (49.7% girls) and the reference cohort 108,987 participants. Eight subgroups of haematological malignancy were identified in the Danish Cancer Registry. These cases were analysed for combined overall haematological malignancy, a combined subgroup of lymphomas and a combined subgroup of leukaemias. The data were analysed using Cox regression (hazard ratios (HR)) including other cancers and death as competing risks. Haematological malignancy was identified in 1125 participants. The median follow-up was 49.3 years (0.1–63.4). Early environmental asbestos exposure was not associated with an increased risk of haematological malignancy. Long-term occupational asbestos exposure was associated with overall haematological malignancy (HR 1.69, 95% CI 1.04–2.73); in particular for the leukaemia subgroup (HR 2.14, 95% CI 1.19–3.84). This large follow-up study suggests that long-term occupational asbestos exposure is associated with increased leukaemia risk. However, further studies are needed to confirm these observations.

scholarly journals Factors Affecting Asbestosis Mortality Among Asbestos-Cement Workers in Italy

2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (6) ◽  
pp. 622-635
Author(s):  
Paolo Girardi ◽  
Enzo Merler ◽  
Daniela Ferrante ◽  
Stefano Silvestri ◽  
Elisabetta Chellini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Asbestos Exposure ◽  
Cohort Effect ◽  
Age Effect ◽  
Cumulative Exposure ◽  
Calendar Period ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Long Latency ◽  
Asbestos Cement ◽  
Exposed Workers ◽  
Standardized Mortality Ratios

Abstract Objectives This study was performed with the aim of investigating the temporal patterns and determinants associated with mortality from asbestosis among 21 cohorts of Asbestos-Cement (AC) workers who were heavily exposed to asbestos fibres. Methods Mortality for asbestosis was analysed for a cohort of 13 076 Italian AC workers (18.1% women). Individual cumulative asbestos exposure index was calculated by factory and period of work weighting by the different composition of asbestos used (crocidolite, amosite, and chrysotile). Two different approaches to analysis, based on Standardized Mortality Ratios (SMRs) and Age-Period-Cohort (APC) models were applied. Results Among the considered AC facilities, asbestos exposure was extremely high until the end of the 1970s and, due to the long latency, a peak of asbestosis mortality was observed after the 1990s. Mortality for asbestosis reached extremely high SMR values [SMR: males 508, 95% confidence interval (CI): 446–563; females 1027, 95% CI: 771–1336]. SMR increased steeply with the increasing values of cumulative asbestos exposure and with Time Since the First Exposure. APC analysis reported a clear age effect with a mortality peak at 75–80 years; the mortality for asbestosis increased in the last three quintiles of the cumulative exposure; calendar period did not have a significant temporal component while the cohort effect disappeared if we included in the model the cumulative exposure to asbestos. Conclusions Among heaviest exposed workers, mortality risk for asbestosis began to increase before 50 years of age. Mortality for asbestosis was mainly determined by cumulative exposure to asbestos.

scholarly journals Chest physician-reported, work-related, long-latency respiratory disease in Great Britain

2017 ◽  
Vol 50 (6) ◽  
pp. 1700961 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie Carder ◽  
Andrew Darnton ◽  
Matthew Gittins ◽  
S. Jill Stocks ◽  
David Ross ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
Respiratory Disease ◽  
Disease Burden ◽  
Asbestos Exposure ◽  
Occupational Exposures ◽  
Chronic Obstructive ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Long Latency ◽  
Proportional Mortality ◽  
Dock Workers

Much of the current burden of long-latency respiratory disease (LLRD) in Great Britain is attributed to historical asbestos exposure. However, continuing exposure to other agents, notably silica, also contributes to disease burden. The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence of work-related LLRD reported by chest physicians in Great Britain, including variations by age, gender, occupation and suspected agent.LLRD incidence and incidence rate ratios by occupation were estimated (1996–2014). Mesothelioma cases by occupation were compared with proportional mortality ratios.Cases were predominantly in men (95%) and 92% of all cases were attributed to asbestos. Annual average incidence rates (males) per 100 000 were: benign pleural disease, 7.1 (95% CI 6.0–8.2); mesothelioma, 5.4 (4.8–6.0); pneumoconiosis, 1.9 (1.7–2.2); lung cancer, 0.8 (0.6–1.0); chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), 0.3 (0.2–0.4). Occupations with a particularly high incidence of LLRD were miners and quarrymen (COPD), plumbers and gas fitters (asbestosis), and shipyard and dock workers (all other categories). There was a clear concordance between cases of SWORD mesothelioma and proportional mortality ratios by occupation.Occupationally caused LLRD continues to contribute to a significant disease burden. Many cases are attributable to past exposure to agents such as asbestos and silica, but the potential for occupational exposures persists.

scholarly journals Meta-Analysis of the Association between Asbestos Exposure and Esophageal Cancer

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (21) ◽  
pp. 11088
Author(s):  
Chih-Wei Wu ◽  
Hung-Yi Chuang ◽  
Dong-Lin Tsai ◽  
Tzu-Yu Kuo ◽  
Chen-Cheng Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Esophageal Cancer ◽  
Subgroup Analysis ◽  
Textile Industry ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Asbestos Exposure ◽  
Latency Period ◽  
High Dose ◽  
Long Latency ◽  
Standardized Mortality Rate

Background: We conducted a meta-analysis to quantitatively assess the association between asbestos exposure and esophageal cancer. Methods: We systematically collected articles from three electronic databases and calculated the pooled standardized mortality rate (SMR) from the meta-analysis. Subgroup analysis according to the type of asbestos exposure, follow-up years, sample size, industry classification, sex, and high-dose exposure was conducted. Results: From 242 studies, 34 cohort studies were included in our meta-analysis. Pooled SMR was positively associated with asbestos exposure and esophageal cancer (pooled SMR = 1.28; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.19–1.38, p < 0.00001). In the subgroup analysis, (1) chrysolite, (2) four groups with follow-up over ten years, (3) the textile industry and shipyard, (4) both male and female, and (5) eight studies on highest asbestos exposure, all the subgroups showed significantly increased pooled SMRs. Conclusion: Asbestos exposure was significantly and positively associated with esophageal cancer, especially chrysolite. Considering the long latency period, we suggest that patients should be followed up for cancer, including esophageal cancer, for over ten years.

Environmental asbestos exposure in childhood and risk of mesothelioma later in life: a long-term follow-up register-based cohort study

2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (6) ◽  
pp. 407-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sofie Bünemann Dalsgaard ◽  
Else Toft Würtz ◽  
Johnni Hansen ◽  
Oluf Dimitri Røe ◽  
Øyvind Omland
Keyword(s):  
Primary Schools ◽  
Cox Regression ◽  
Asbestos Exposure ◽  
Cement Plant ◽  
Asbestos Cement ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Prevailing Wind Direction ◽  
Comparison Cohort ◽  
Long Term Follow Up

ObjectiveTo examine the risk of malignant mesothelioma (MM) in former pupils who attended primary school near an asbestos cement plant.MethodsA cohort of 12 111 former pupils, born 1940–1970, was established from individual historical records from four primary schools located at a distance of 100–750 m in the prevailing wind direction from an asbestos cement plant operating from 1928 to 1984 in Aalborg, Denmark. The school cohort and a comparison cohort consisting of 108 987 gender and 5-year frequency-matched subjects were followed up (2015) for MM in the Danish Cancer Registry. Using Cox regression, HRs were estimated for the incidence of MM. Adjustments for occupational and familial asbestos exposure were made with a job exposure matrix. An SIR analysis including latency periods testing the cancer incidence rate was performed with the comparison cohort as the reference rate.ResultsThe median person-years of follow-up were 62.5 years in the school cohort and 62.2 years in the comparison cohort. There were 32 males and 6 females of the former pupils who developed MM during the follow-up: HRmale 7.01 (95% CI 4.24 to 11.57), HRfemale 7.43 (95% CI 2.50 to 22.13). Those who attended school 250 m north of the plant had the highest HR for MM, 10.65 (95% Cl 5.82 to 19.48). No significant trend between school distance and risk of MM was established (p=0.35).ConclusionOur results suggest that boys and girls who attended schools and lived in the neighbourhood of an asbestos cement plant later in life have a significantly increased risk of MM.

Occupational and environmental health

2020 ◽  
pp. 1638-1652
Author(s):  
Raymond Agius ◽  
Debasish Sen
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Occupational Diseases ◽  
Asbestos Exposure ◽  
Occupational Exposures ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Response Strength ◽  
Exposure Response ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Strength Of Association

Occupational diseases are those for which work or, specifically, exposures in the workplace are necessary causes. The most prevalent occupational diseases in developed countries today are musculoskeletal and psychological disorders (usually stress-related conditions), but generally occupationally related malignancies (e.g. mesothelioma related to asbestos exposure) have the most serious outcomes. The proportion of all cancers attributable to occupational exposures is about 4%, with occupationally related cancers almost exclusively concentrated in manual workers aged 20 or over in sectors such as mining, agriculture, and industry. When presented with a patient whose illness might possibly have been caused or aggravated by work or by other environmental factors, the physician can usefully adopt an approach similar to that used for determining causation in epidemiological studies; the key issues being the temporality, reversibility, exposure-response, strength of association, and specificity of the illness with exposure to the factor in question.

scholarly journals Asbestos Exposure Level and the Carcinogenic Risk Due to Corrugated Asbestos-Cement Slate Roofs in Korea

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (13) ◽  
pp. 6925
Author(s):  
Eun-Soo Lee ◽  
Young-Ki Kim
Keyword(s):  
Asbestos Exposure ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Pooled Analysis ◽  
Carcinogenic Risk ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
Exposure Level ◽  
Lifetime Cancer Risk ◽  
Indoor Exposure ◽  
Asbestos Cement ◽  
Environmental Causes

Asbestos-cement slate roofs are one of the most common environmental causes of asbestos exposure. However, few studies have examined residential asbestos-cement slate-related exposure and its effects on human health. This study was performed to evaluate cumulative asbestos exposure levels and to calculate the Excess Lifetime Cancer Risk (ELCR) of residents of asbestos-cement slate-roofed houses. We reviewed previous Korean literature to estimate the concentration of airborne asbestos from asbestos-cement slate roofed buildings. Finally, eight studies were selected, and a pooled analysis was performed. The results derived from the pooled analysis were combined with the data from a health impact survey conducted from 2009 to 2016 at the Environmental Health Center for Asbestos (EHCA) of the Yangsan Pusan National University Hospital, and a carcinogenic risk assessment was performed. As a result, the representative value of the indoor exposure concentration related to asbestos-cement slate was found to be 0.0032 f/cc on average, and the representative value of the exposure related to occupational asbestos-cement slate dismantling and demolition was found to be 0.0034 f/cc. In addition, the ELCR of asbestos-cement slate related indoor exposure and occupational dismantling and demolition was found to be of medium risk, and the ELCR of residential dismantling and demolition of asbestos-cement slate was less than 10−6, indicating that the risk was low. Since there is no threshold for carcinogenicity related to asbestos, this should not be ignored even if the risk appears low, and it would be reasonable to calculate the carcinogenic risk based on total lifetime exposure. More studies on asbestos exposure scenarios and the scope of similar exposure groups through additional data collection and further analysis of risk are needed.

scholarly journals Accuracy of upper endoscopies with random biopsies to identify patients with gastric premalignant lesions who can safely be exempt from surveillance

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 680-690
Author(s):  
Michiel C. Mommersteeg ◽  
Stella A. V. Nieuwenburg ◽  
Wouter J. den Hollander ◽  
Lisanne Holster ◽  
Caroline M. den Hoed ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gastric Cancer ◽  
High Risk ◽  
Low Risk ◽  
Premalignant Lesions ◽  
High Risk Patients ◽  
European Guidelines ◽  
Progression Of Disease ◽  
Risk Patients ◽  
Progression Risk

Abstract Introduction Guidelines recommend endoscopy with biopsies to stratify patients with gastric premalignant lesions (GPL) to high and low progression risk. High-risk patients are recommended to undergo surveillance. We aimed to assess the accuracy of guideline recommendations to identify low-risk patients, who can safely be discharged from surveillance. Methods This study includes patients with GPL. Patients underwent at least two endoscopies with an interval of 1–6 years. Patients were defined ‘low risk’ if they fulfilled requirements for discharge, and ‘high risk’ if they fulfilled requirements for surveillance, according to European guidelines (MAPS-2012, updated MAPS-2019, BSG). Patients defined ‘low risk’ with progression of disease during follow-up (FU) were considered ‘misclassified’ as low risk. Results 334 patients (median age 60 years IQR11; 48.7% male) were included and followed for a median of 48 months. At baseline, 181/334 (54%) patients were defined low risk. Of these, 32.6% were ‘misclassified’, showing progression of disease during FU. If MAPS-2019 were followed, 169/334 (51%) patients were defined low risk, of which 32.5% were ‘misclassified’. If BSG were followed, 174/334 (51%) patients were defined low risk, of which 32.2% were ‘misclassified’. Seven patients developed gastric cancer (GC) or dysplasia, four patients were ‘misclassified’ based on MAPS-2012 and three on MAPS-2019 and BSG. By performing one additional endoscopy 72.9% (95% CI 62.4–83.3) of high-risk patients and all patients who developed GC or dysplasia were identified. Conclusion One-third of patients that would have been discharged from GC surveillance, appeared to be ‘misclassified’ as low risk. One additional endoscopy will reduce this risk by 70%.

scholarly journals Airborne occupational exposures and the risk of developing respiratory symptoms and airway obstruction in the Lifelines Cohort Study

Thorax ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. thoraxjnl-2020-216721
Author(s):  
Md Omar Faruque ◽  
H Marike Boezen ◽  
Hans Kromhout ◽  
Roel Vermeulen ◽  
Ute Bültmann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cohort Study ◽  
Airway Obstruction ◽  
Chronic Bronchitis ◽  
Chronic Cough ◽  
Respiratory Symptoms ◽  
Occupational Exposures ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
High Exposure ◽  
Pesticides Exposure

ObjectivesTo date, only a few studies have investigated the associations between occupational exposures and respiratory outcomes longitudinally in the general population. We investigated the associations between occupational exposures and the development of respiratory symptoms and airway obstruction in the Lifelines Cohort Study.MethodsWe included 35 739 occupationally active subjects with data on chronic cough, chronic phlegm, chronic bronchitis or airway obstruction at baseline and approximately 4.5 years follow-up. Exposures to biological dust, mineral dust, gases/fumes, pesticides, solvents and metals in the current job at baseline were estimated with the ALOHA+job-exposure matrix (JEM). Airway obstruction was defined as FEV1/FVC below the lower limit of normal. Logistic regression analysis adjusted for baseline covariates was used to investigate the associations.ResultsAt follow-up, 1888 (6.0%), 1495 (4.7%), 710 (2.5%) and 508 (4.5%) subjects had developed chronic cough, chronic phlegm, chronic bronchitis and airway obstruction, respectively. High exposure to biological dust was associated with a higher odds to develop chronic cough and chronic bronchitis. High exposure to pesticides was associated with a higher odds for the development of all respiratory symptoms and airway obstruction. In the multiple exposures analyses, only the association between pesticides exposure and respiratory symptoms remained.ConclusionsSubjects exposed to high pesticides had a higher odds to develop respiratory symptoms on average 4.5 years later. Control measures should be taken to reduce pesticides exposure among the working population to prevent respiratory symptoms and airway obstruction.

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