US EPA

3084331 

Journal Article 

Historical background to the asbestos problem 

Lee, DH; Selikoff, IJ 

1979 

Yes 

Environmental Research
ISSN: 0013-9351
EISSN: 1096-0953 

ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE 

SAN DIEGO 

NIOSH/00192356 

18 

2 

300-314 

English 

389621 

10.1016/0013-9351(79)90107-5 

WOS:A1979GW76400006 

https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/0013935179901075
Exit
 

This review discussed the early beginnings of the asbestos (1332214) problem through the 1960s. The property of asbestos to withstand fire was known and used in the fourth to fifth centuries B.C. In 1676 note was made of salamander's wool in London, sold by a Chinese merchant. In the eighteenth century asbestos wicks and paper were manufactured in Norway. Between 1850 and 1870 the production of woven materials flourished and the rediscovery and development of very large deposits of asbestos in Canada and South Africa provided the opportunity for further growth. By 1902 asbestos was included by Anderson on the list of dusts long known to be injurious to man. In 1908 Scarpa indicated rapidly progressive tuberculosis to be common among asbestos workers who attended his clinic. While additional cases of respiratory disease were being reported, the connection was not clearly made until 1924 with the second reported death in England from pulmonary fibrosis in an asbestos worker. Even so, similarities to other already known diseases made acceptance of this new etiology difficult. The histories associated with pleural asbestosis, mesothelioma, and associated bronchial carcinoma were also considered in this review. By the 1960s the evidence had already been accumulated, but not yet assembled, which would convict asbestos as a carcinogen. The significance of pleural changes and the occurrence of mesothelioma in persons without a distinct history of exposure remained in considerable doubt. Still, systematic epidemiological investigation was needed of large cohorts drawn from various types of industry, with the inclusion of adequate control populations. Developments then accelerated considerably through a series of international conferences at which many of the tentative conclusions were exchanged and research plans solidified. 

Asbestos; 1332-21-4; Index Medicus; History of medicine; History, 17th Century; History, Ancient; Carcinoma, Bronchogenic -- epidemiology; Mesothelioma -- epidemiology; Pulmonary Fibrosis -- complications; United States; History, 20th Century; History, Medieval; History, 16th Century; History, 18th Century; Industry; Pleural Neoplasms -- epidemiology; Pleural Diseases -- epidemiology; Pulmonary Fibrosis -- epidemiology; Finland; History, 19th Century; South Africa; History, 15th Century; Pleural Diseases -- complications; Asbestos -- adverse effects; Asbestos -- history; Asbestosis -- history; Asbestosis -- epidemiology; Asbestosis -- etiology