逍遥右脑 2018-04-10 13:25
Asbestos Exposure
Asbestos and mesothelioma: worldwide trends.
Lung Cancer. 2005 July
Towards the end of the 20th century, governments in many developed countries banned or seriously restricted the use of asbestos. As a result, global asbestos producers have engaged in aggressive marketing campaigns to sell asbestos to developing countries; consumption of white asbestos is increasing in Asia, Latin America and the Commonwealth of Independent States. In most of the countries, there is little, if any, control on hazardous asbestos exposures from occupational, environmental and domestic sources. It is likely that the lethal asbestos harvest which is occurring in the U.S. , the UK and Australia will be reproduced in the developing world. More Information
Asbestos and peritoneal mesothelioma among college-educated men.
Int J Occup Environ Health. 2005 Jul-Sep
The proportion of peritoneal mesotheliomas among all mesotheliomas has been decreasing, leading some to suggest that peritoneal mesothelioma occurs only after high levels of exposure to asbestos. To investigate the relationship between asbestos exposure and the development of peritoneal mesothelioma, a case-control study examined 40 cases of primary peritoneal mesothelioma from a single institution. This series differed from previous reports in that 75% of the cases and controls had attended college. Results show an odds ratio of 6.6 for asbestos exposure among this group of primary peritoneal mesothelioma cases with relatively slight asbestos exposures. More Information
Mesothelioma in household members of asbestos-exposed workers: 32 United States cases since 1990.
Am J Ind Med. 2005 May
Mesothelioma is significant as an indicator of asbestos exposure, as a continuing major cause of death in those exposed, and as a risk following lesser exposures. One such exposure is living in the household of an asbestos worker, and coming into contact with fibers brought home on his/her body, clothing, etc. This study reports 32 household-exposure mesothelioma cases, diagnosed since 1990. Relationships were wife (15), daughter (11), son (3), sister-in law (1), niece (1), and boarder (1). Occupations of the workers included shipyard (13), insulator (7), and other (12).Latency was greater than 40 years in 27 cases.Mesothelioma resulting from household exposure is a continuing problem. It is more likely to present in the elderly, after latencies of >40 years. More Information
Mesothelioma: the aetiological role of ultrathin fibres and repercussions on prevention and medical legal evaluation
Med Lav. 2005 Jan-Feb
The most important knowledge that must today be taken as certain is the fact that mesothelioma is not caused, as is the case for asbestosis, by all the fibres that are inhaled, but only by the ultra-thin fraction of these fibres, having diameter of 0.2 microm and length of only a few microm. Only fibres of this class of size can cross the pulmonary-pleural barrier and are, therefore, the causal agent of mesothelioma and other benign pleural manifestations (plaques).[This] means that any assumption of the disease being avoidable must be discarded, at least up to the second half of the 1980s because until then this class of fibres, which today must be considered as the true causal agent of the neoplasm, was not visible under the optical microscope, nor could such fibres be measured or eliminated from the atmosphere of working environments. The filter materials available both for fixed ventilation systems and for individual protective masks were not able to block the ultrathin fibres and were therefore only efficacious for the prevention of asbestosis and probably pulmonary carcinoma. It was only with the use of highly efficient HEPA filters and "absolute" filters towards the end of the 1980s that efficacious protection against all size classes of respirable fibres became possible in industrial plants. More Information