US EPA

3094025 

Technical Report 

Asbestos and Man-Made Fibers 

Hughes, JM; Weill, H 

1994 

NIOSH/00225443 

Samet, J. M. (Ed.). Lung Biology in Health and Disease, Vol. 74. Epidemiology of Lung Cancer. Xvi+543p. Marcel Dekker, Inc.: New York, New York, USA; Basel, Switzerland. Isbn 0-8247-8853-2.; 0 (0). 1994. 185-205. 

J 

ED. 

185-205 

English 

Health risks associated with the use of asbestos (1332214) and man made mineral fibers (MMMF) were reviewed. The properties, production, and use of the fibrous minerals were described. The increased risk of lung cancer among occupationally exposed asbestos workers was recognized for many years. Considerations in determinations of exposure response relationships for asbestos exposures in general as well as for exposures to different types of asbestos fibers were explored. The cancer risk associated with exposure to asbestos was reported to vary with the fiber type as well as with the industry independent of fiber type. The relationship between lung fibrosis and the development of lung cancer in asbestos exposure workers was examined. Calculations of lifetime cancer risk in those with only environmental asbestos exposure were presented; these suggested that the risk to the general population was probably too small to be detectable based on the background risk in the population. Examination of cancer risks among man made mineral fiber workers indicated that elevated lung cancer risks appear to exist for workers exposed to rock/slag wool; however, equivocal data have been seen for workers exposed to fibrous glass. Comparisons of epidemiological results between asbestos and MMMF workers indicated a considerably lower airborne fiber exposure levels for MMMF workers, the possibility of multiple exposures to various agents among MMMF workers versus the primarily single exposures to asbestos among asbestos workers, and the greater lung clearance of MMMFs. The authors conclude that it is still necessary to control airborne levels of both asbestos and MMMFs, with emphasis on occupational exposure. 

BIOCHEMISTRY; MINERALS; NECROSIS/PATHOLOGY; RESPIRATORY TRACT DISEASES/PHYSIOPATHOLOGY; ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANTS/POISONING; OCCUPATIONAL DISEASES; NEOPLASMS/PATHOLOGY; OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH SERVICES; MORBIDITY; NEOPLASMS; HOMINIDAE; Biochemical Studies-General; Biochemical Studies-Minerals; Pathology; Respiratory System-Pathology; Toxicology-Environmental and Industrial Toxicology; Neoplasms and Neoplastic Agents-Pathology; Public Health: Environmental Health-Occupational Health; Public Health: Epidemiology-Organic Diseases and Neoplasms; 1332-21-4