Decade-long insights: tracking asbestos-related health impacts among formerly exposed workers in Palermo, Italy.

Background: Asbestos is a foremost occupational carcinogen globally. Despite the prohibition under Law 257/1992, Italy persists as one of the European nations most burdened by asbestos-related diseases (ARDs). This research assessed ARD cases in asbestos-exposed workers from the Province of Palermo, Italy, spanning 2010-2021. Methods: Data acquisition utilized the epidemiological dataset from the 'Service of Prevention and Safety on Work Environment' under the Prevention Department of Palermo's Local Health Authority (LHA). Results: Between 2010 and 2021, we identified 245 ARD instances, comprising 163 Asbestosis/Pleural plaques, 41 Lung Cancers, 38 Mesotheliomas, and 3 unspecified cases. Multivariate analysis indicated a notable decline in temporal exposure for mesothelioma (HR=0.933; 95% CI=0.902-0.965) and lung cancer (HR=0.93; 95% CI=0.90-0.978) relative to pleural plaques/asbestosis. Tobacco use displayed a pronounced correlation with lung cancer (smoker HR=64.520 95% CI=13,075-318.390; former smoker HR=20.917 95% CI=4,913-89.048). A significant link was observed between mesothelioma and pleural plaques/asbestosis in those employed in shipbuilding and repair (HR=0.371 95% CI=0.155-0.892). Conclusions: ARDs persist in clinical observations, even following the 1992 cessation of asbestos-related activities, emphasizing an enduring public health challenge. Enhancing prevention strategies is paramount, focusing on amplifying anamnestic and occupational data collection, thereby facilitating superior early diagnosis strategies for these maladies in the occupationally exposed cohort.

Asbestos: Mineralogical features and fiber analysis in biological materials.

Asbestos is a mineral with unique physical and chemical properties that make it highly resistant to heat, fire, and corrosion. Nevertheless, exposure to asbestos fibers has been linked to serious health problems, including lung cancer, mesothelioma, and asbestosis. Despite the ban on asbestos usage, asbestos-related diseases are still a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Analyzing the mineralogical features and fiber analysis of asbestos in biological materials is critical for scenarios where an asbestos exposure history cannot be obtained, a clinical diagnosis cannot be made, or legal aspects necessitate further investigation. This review outlines the mineralogical features and fiber analysis techniques of asbestos in biological materials.

Asbestos awareness among the residents of St. Kitts and Nevis: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: High levels of public awareness regarding the hazards of asbestos, rights to health, and benefits of an asbestos-free country can increase advocacy and political commitment to a total ban on asbestos. We aimed to investigate asbestos awareness and associated sociodemographic characteristics among the adult population of St. Kitts and Nevis. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 1009 participants completed an online questionnaire with questions about sociodemographic data and asbestos awareness. We applied multiple regression models to estimate associations between sociodemographic factors, levels of asbestos knowledge, and attitudes toward asbestos management. RESULTS: We found that 70% of residents of St. Kitts and Nevis considered asbestos exposure to be a general public concern and believed the government should prevent it. Of all participants, 54% were in favor of completely banning the use and importation of all asbestos products and materials; those with higher levels of asbestos knowledge were more likely to favor a total ban. Higher proportions and odds of favoring a total asbestos ban were also observed in participants aged ≥ 30 years, women, those with higher education, and those living in St. Kitts (vs. Nevis). CONCLUSIONS: These findings support implementing policies to regulate and outright ban the use of asbestos products and materials in St. Kitts and Nevis. This data can be used to develop tailored campaigns to improve asbestos knowledge among sociodemographic groups with lower asbestos awareness, such as in the wider Caribbean and other under-resourced countries.

Asbestos danger in central Europe is not yet over - the situation in the Czech Republic.

OBJECTIVES: In the Czech Republic, asbestos has been classified as a known human carcinogen since 1984. The use of asbestos-containing products was limited to scenarios where the use of other materials was not possible. Since 1997, the manufacture of asbestos materials has been forbidden, and in 1999, the import, manufacture and distribution of all types of asbestos fibres was legally banned by Act No. 157/1998 Coll. Although the use of asbestos is forbidden, the risk of exposure still exists given the ongoing demolition and reconstruction of buildings in which asbestos has been used. In addition, a novel risk has arisen through the quarrying of asbestos-containing aggregates and their subsequent use. The aim of this paper was to describe and evaluate asbestos in terms of history, legislation, current risk of occupational exposure and its health consequences in the Czech Republic over the last three decades. METHODS: This retrospective descriptive study used the collected data on occupational exposure and occupational diseases. The counts of workers occupationally exposed to asbestos were obtained from the Registry of Work Categorization; the numbers and structure of occupational diseases caused by asbestos were taken from the Czech National Registry of Occupational Diseases. Data on the total number of mesothelioma cases recorded in the Czech National Cancer Registry was provided by the Institute of Health Information and Statistics of the Czech Republic. RESULTS: A total of 13,112 subjects were registered as occupationally exposed to asbestos during the period 2001-2020. A total of 687 cases of asbestos-related occupational diseases were reported in the period 1991-2020 in the Czech Republic, comprising 178 cases of asbestosis, 250 cases of pleural hyalinosis, 168 cases of pleural or peritoneal mesothelioma, 90 cases of lung cancer, and one case of laryngeal cancer. The data from the Czech National Cancer Registry, available for a shorter period (1991-2018), reveal 1,389 cases of mesothelioma, of which only ~11% were recognised as occupational, despite the fact that the occupational causality of mesotheliomas is estimated to be up to 90% of mesotheliomas. Moreover, the latency of mesotheliomas since the last occupational exposure reached up to 50 years and this trend is still slightly increasing, unlike asbestosis, where a high cumulative dose of inhaled asbestos is needed. The real proportion of occupational lung cancers may obviously be even higher, especially in smokers, where occupational causes including asbestos are not suspected by most physicians. CONCLUSION: Czech data on asbestos-related occupational diseases, especially cancers, are grossly underestimated, which is most apparent through the low proportion of mesotheliomas diagnosed as occupational. Asbestos materials in older buildings remained in situ and may represent a danger during reconstruction works. The current source of exposure appears to be quarrying of asbestos-containing aggregate and its subsequent use. Awareness of the professional community is therefore crucial, not only for the possibility of compensating those affected, but also for the early detection of the diseases through the dispensary of exposed persons.

Spatial Analysis of Shared Risk Factors between Pleural and Ovarian Cancer Mortality in Lombardy (Italy).

BACKGROUND: Asbestos exposure is a recognized risk factor for ovarian cancer and malignant mesothelioma. There are reports in the literature of geographical ecological associations between the occurrence of these two diseases. Our aim was to further explore this association by applying advanced Bayesian techniques to a large population (10 million people). METHODS: We specified a series of Bayesian hierarchical shared models to the bivariate spatial distribution of ovarian and pleural cancer mortality by municipality in the Lombardy Region (Italy) in 2000-2018. RESULTS: Pleural cancer showed a strongly clustered spatial distribution, while ovarian cancer showed a less structured spatial pattern. The most supported Bayesian models by predictive accuracy (widely applicable or Watanabe-Akaike information criterion, WAIC) provided evidence of a shared component between the two diseases. Among five municipalities with significant high standardized mortality ratios of ovarian cancer, three also had high pleural cancer rates. Wide uncertainty was present when addressing the risk of ovarian cancer associated with pleural cancer in areas at low background risk of ovarian cancer. CONCLUSIONS: We found evidence of a shared risk factor between ovarian and pleural cancer at the small geographical level. The impact of the shared risk factor can be relevant and can go unnoticed when the prevalence of other risk factors for ovarian cancer is low. Bayesian modelling provides useful information to tailor epidemiological surveillance.

Prediction of Asbestos-Related Diseases (ARDs) and Chrysotile Asbestos Exposure Concentrations in Asbestos-Cement (AC) Manufacturing Factories in Zimbabwe.

The use of historical asbestos measurement data in occupational exposure assessment is essential as it allows more quantitative analysis of possible exposure response relationships in asbestos-related disease (ARD) occurrence. The aim of this study was to predict possible ARDs, namely lung cancer, mesothelioma, gastrointestinal cancer, and asbestosis, in two chrysotile asbestos cement (AC) manufacturing factories. Prediction of ARDs was done using a specific designed job-exposure matrix for airborne chrysotile asbestos fibre concentrations obtained from the Harare and Bulawayo AC factories and through application of OSHA's linear dose effect model in which ARDs were estimated through extrapolation at 1, 10, 20, and 25 years of exposure. The results show that more cancer and asbestosis cases are likely to be experienced among those exposed before 2008 as exposure levels and subsequently cumulative exposure were generally much higher than those experienced after 2008. After a possible exposure period of 25 years, overall cancer cases predicted in the Harare factory were 325 cases per 100,000 workers, while for the Bulawayo factory, 347 cancer cases per 100,000 workers exposed may be experienced. Possible high numbers of ARDs are likely to be associated with specific tasks/job titles, e.g., saw cutting, kollergang, fettling table, ground hard waste, and possibly pipe-making operations, as cumulative exposures, though lower than reported in other studies, may present higher risk of health impairment. The study gives insights into possible ARDs, namely lung cancer, mesothelioma, gastrointestinal cancer, and asbestosis, that may be anticipated at various cumulative exposures over 1, 10, 20, and 25 years of exposure in AC manufacturing factories in Zimbabwe. Additionally, results from the study can also form a basis for more in-depth assessment of asbestos cancer morbidity studies in the AC manufacturing industries.

Burden of Mortality from Asbestos-Related Diseases in Italy.

Asbestos is one of the major worldwide occupational carcinogens. The global burden of asbestos-related diseases (ARDs) was estimated around 231,000 cases/year. Italy was one of the main European asbestos producers until the 1992 ban. The WHO recommended national programs, including epidemiological surveillance, to eliminate ARDs. The present paper shows the estimate of the burden of mortality from ARDs in Italy, established for the first time. National standardized rates of mortality from mesothelioma and asbestosis and their temporal trends, based on the National Institute of Statistics database, were computed. Deaths from lung cancer attributable to asbestos exposure were estimated using population-based case-control studies. Asbestos-related lung and ovarian cancer deaths attributable to occupational exposure were estimated, considering the Italian occupational cohort studies. In the 2010-2016 period, 4400 deaths/year attributable to asbestos were estimated: 1515 from mesothelioma, 58 from asbestosis, 2830 from lung and 16 from ovarian cancers. The estimates based on occupational cohorts showed that each year 271 deaths from mesothelioma, 302 from lung cancer and 16 from ovarian cancer were attributable to occupational asbestos exposure in industrial sectors with high asbestos levels. The important health impact of asbestos in Italy, 10-25 years after the ban, was highlighted. These results suggest the need for appropriate interventions in terms of prevention, health care and social security at the local level and could contribute to the global estimate of ARDs.

Ascertainment Bias in a Historic Cohort Study of Residents in an Asbestos Manufacturing Community.

This paper describes follow-up for a cohort of 4530 residents living in the asbestos manufacturing community of Ambler, PA, U.S. in 1930. Using re-identified census data, cause and date of death data obtained from the genealogic website Ancestry.com, along with geospatial analysis, we explored relationships among demographic characteristics, occupational, paraoccupational and environmental asbestos exposures. We identified death data for 2430/4530 individuals. Exposure differed significantly according to race, gender, age, and recency of immigration to the U.S. Notably, there was a significant difference in the availability of year of death information for non-white vs. white individuals (odds ratio (OR) = 0.62 p-value < 0.001), females (OR = 0.53, p-value < 0.001), first-generation immigrants (OR = 0.67, p-value = 0.001), second-generation immigrants (OR = 0.31, p-value < 0.001) vs. non-immigrants, individuals aged less than 20 (OR = 0.31 p-value < 0.001) and individuals aged 20 to 59 (OR = 0.63, p-value < 0.001) vs. older individuals. Similarly, the cause of death was less often available for non-white individuals (OR = 0.42, p-value <0.001), first-generation immigrants and (OR = 0.71, p-value = 0.009), second-generation immigrants (OR = 0.49, p-value < 0.001), individuals aged less than 20 (OR = 0.028 p-value < 0.001), and individuals aged 20 to 59 (OR = 0.26, p-value < 0.001). These results identified ascertainment bias that is important to consider in analyses that investigate occupational, para-occupational and environmental asbestos exposure as risk factors for mortality in this historic cohort. While this study attempts to describe methods for assessing itemized asbestos exposure profiles for a community in 1930 using Ancestry.com and other publicly accessible databases, it also highlights how historic cohort studies likely underestimate the impact of asbestos exposure on vulnerable populations. Future work will aim to assess mortality patterns in this cohort.

Ongoing downplaying of the carcinogenicity of chrysotile asbestos by vested interests.

Industries that mine, manufacture and sell asbestos or asbestos-containing products have a long tradition of promoting the use of asbestos, while placing the burden of economic and health costs on workers and society. This has been successfully done in recent years and decades in spite of the overwhelming evidence that all asbestos types are carcinogenic and cause asbestosis. In doing so, the asbestos industry has undermined the WHO campaign to reach a worldwide ban of asbestos and to eliminate asbestos-related diseases. Even worse, in recent years they succeeded in continuing asbestos mining and consuming in the range of about 1.3 million tons annually. Nowadays, production takes place predominantly in Russia, Kazakhstan and China. Chrysotile is the only asbestos type still sold and represents 95% of asbestos traded over the last century.The asbestos industry, especially its PR agency, the International Chrysotile Association, ICA, financed by asbestos mining companies in Russia, Kazakhstan and Zimbabwe and asbestos industrialists in India and Mexico, continues to be extremely active by using slogans such as chrysotile can be used safely.Another approach of the asbestos industry and of some of its insurance agencies is to broadly defeat liability claims of asbestos victims.In doing so they systematically use inappropriate science produced by their own and/or by industry-affiliated researchers. Some of the latter were also engaged in producing defense material for other industries including the tobacco industry. Frequent examples of distributing such disinformation include questioning or denying established scientific knowledge about adverse health effects of asbestos. False evidence continues to be published in scientific journals and books.The persisting strong influence of vested asbestos-related interests in workers and public health issues including regulations and compensation necessitate ongoing alertness, corrections and appropriate reactions in scientific as well as public media and policy advisory bodies.

[The Amiantus Program in Poland - 20 years of implementation]. / Program Amiantus w Polsce ­ 20 lat realizacji.

BACKGROUND: Despite the ban on the production of asbestos-containing materials, introduced in Poland over 20 years ago, new cases of asbestos-related diseases are still being recorded. Systematic control of respiratory function in people exposed to asbestos dust is, therefore, extremely important due to the biological properties of this mineral. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The Amiantus preventive medical examination program was undertaken in 2000 to implement the legal rights of former employees of asbestos processing plants for this type of examinations. People who have ever been employed in such factories have been authorized to use preventive medical examinations for the rest of their lives. The research is continuous, spread over time and focused, in particular, on the assessment of the respiratory system. RESULTS: Since the beginning of the program, throughout 20 years of its implementation, 8329 people have been examined, including 5199 (62.4%) men for whom a total of 34 454 medical examinations have been carried out. During the program period, the percentage of diagnosed pathologies increased from 8% in 2000 to 25% in 2019. Overall, 2078 asbestos-related diseases were diagnosed among former employees of asbestos processing plants under the Amiantus Program, which accounted for 25% of this group. Among all diseases caused by exposure to asbestos, the most common were: asbestosis (1880 cases - 90.5%), lung cancer (121 cases - 5.8%) and pleural mesothelioma (77 cases - 3.7%). Diseases of pleura in the form of plaques and diffuse pleural thickening were diagnosed in 40% of the examined patients, while radiological pulmonary shadows affected over 65% of former employees of asbestos processing plants. CONCLUSIONS: The Amiantus Program, thanks to the long observation period, enabled monitoring the health of former employees exposed to asbestos, and created a unique opportunity to carry out epidemiological analyzes. These studies allowed the authors to expand their knowledge of the natural history of asbestos-related diseases. Med Pr. 2020;71(5):595-601.

Factors Affecting Asbestosis Mortality Among Asbestos-Cement Workers in Italy.

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.

Are the knowledge of non-malignant asbestos-related diseases and lung function impairment differentially associated with psychological well-being? A cross-sectional study in formerly asbestos-exposed workers in Germany.

OBJECTIVES: The knowledge of past asbestos exposure may lead to chronic psychological strain. In addition, the information about an increased cancer risk can place a psychological burden on individuals triggering mental health symptoms of depression or anxiety. This applies in particular to individuals with non-malignant asbestos-related disease (ARD) such as lung fibrosis and pleural thickening with or without lung function impairment. ARDs with or without lung function impairment may develop even years after exposure cessation. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to test for our cohort whether non-malignant ARD and lung function impairment have differential effects on mental health and psychological strain. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Overall, 612 male participants (mean age=66.2 years, SD=9.5) attending a surveillance programme for ARDs received routine examinations including lung function testing (24% refused to fill in the psychological questionnaire) at a German university hospital study centre from August 2008 to August 2013. OUTCOME MEASURES: Using multiple hierarchical regression analysis, ARD diagnosis and lung function impairment were used to predict psychological health as measured with validated questionnaires for depression and anxiety. Psychological strain was operationalised by intrusive thoughts and specific fear of cancer. RESULTS: The strongest predictor for mental health was obstructive functional impairment (eg, anxiety: ß=0.22, p<0.001). Psychological strain was predicted by the presence of a non-malignant ARD (eg, intrusive thoughts: ß=0.17, p=0.003). CONCLUSIONS: The presence of mental health symptoms is associated with ventilation disturbances, whereas the knowledge of an already initiated morphological change-caused by asbestos exposure-is primarily associated with psychological strain. Specifically, the affected individuals are more prone to intrusive thoughts and specific fear of asbestos-related cancer. As an implication, physicians should be sensitised about possible consequences of risk communication and functional impairment to counteract excessive fear or anxiety.

Environmental and Occupational Exposure to Asbestos as a Result of Consumption and Use in Poland.

Asbestos is harmful to human health; exposure to asbestos causes a wide range of asbestos-related diseases. AIM: Malignant mesothelioma (MM) is unique to occupational and environmental asbestos exposure. METHODS: Environmental asbestos exposure was examined in relation to asbestos use and manufacturing, the quantity of the asbestos-containing products still in use, the concentrations of asbestos fibres in the air and the number of MM cases diagnosed each year per county. RESULTS: The correlation coefficient of the measurements of the asbestos fibre concentrations in the air and the quantity of asbestos-cement products in use is high and amounts to 0.68. Meanwhile, the correlation coefficient of the measurements of asbestos fibre concentrations in air and MM morbidity rate resulting from environmental exposure calculated for particular counties in provinces is low and amounts to 0.37. The highest MM morbidity rate was observed for Malopolskie and Slaskie, a typical industrial area of Poland. CONCLUSIONS: There are MM cases which are still attributable to occupational asbestos exposure, although MM cases resulting from environmental exposure to asbestos have an increased MM risk. Poland is among those countries with a low MM incidence rate, which seems to be an underestimation of environmental asbestos exposure. As long as asbestos-cement products are used in the environment, actions should be undertaken to protect public health.

Occupational Burden of Asbestos-Related Diseases in Korea, 1998-2013: Asbestosis, Mesothelioma, Lung Cancer, Laryngeal Cancer, and Ovarian Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Asbestos exposure causes asbestos-related diseases (ARDs) including asbestosis, malignant mesothelioma, lung cancer, laryngeal cancer, and ovarian cancer. Although Korea used substantial amounts of asbestos in the past, no study has focused on its occupational burden of disease (OBD). Therefore, this study aimed to determine the OBDs of ARDs in Korea. METHODS: The CARcinogen Exposure (CAREX) database was used to determine the proportion of exposed population. Relative risks for lung cancer, laryngeal cancer, and ovarian cancer were used to determine the population-attributable fraction. Data for deaths caused by ARDs during 1998-2013 were obtained from the World Health Organization mortality database. The potential years of life lost (PYLL) and annual average PYLL (APYLL) indicated OBDs. RESULTS: In Korea, the number of ARD-attributable deaths and PYLL due to all ARDs during 1998-2013 were 4,492 and 71,763.7, respectively. The number of attributable deaths and PYLL due to asbestosis, malignant mesothelioma, lung cancer, laryngeal cancer, and ovarian cancer were 37 and 554.2, 808 and 15,877.0, 3,256 and 47,375.9, 120 and 1,605.5, and 271 and 6,331.1, respectively; additionally, the APYLL were 15.0, 19.7, 14.6, 13.4, and 23.4, respectively, and the average age at death was 70.4, 62.6, 69.1, 69.9, and 61.8, respectively. Our study showed that although the use of asbestos has ceased in Korea, the incidence of ARDs tends to increase. CONCLUSION: Therefore, efforts to reduce future OBDs of ARDs, including early detection and proper management of ARDs, are needed in Korea.

Bibliometric analysis of gaps in research on asbestos-related diseases: declining emphasis on public health over 26 years.

OBJECTIVES: The global burden of asbestos-related diseases (ARDs) is significant, and most of the world's population live in countries where asbestos use continues. We examined the gaps between ARD research and suggestions of WHO and the International Labour Organization on prevention. METHODS: From the Web of Science, we collected data on all articles published during 1991-2016 and identified a subset of ARD-related articles. We classified articles into three research areas-laboratory, clinical and public health-and examined their time trends. For all and the top 11 countries publishing ARD-related articles, we calculated the proportions of all ARD-related articles that were in each of the three areas, the average rates of ARD-related articles over all articles, and the average annual per cent changes of rates. RESULTS: ARD-related articles (n=14 284) accounted for 1.3‰ of all articles in 1991, but this had declined to 0.8‰ by 2016. Among the three research areas, the clinical area accounted for the largest proportion (65.0%), followed by laboratory (26.5%) and public health (24.9%). The public health area declined faster than the other areas, at -5.7% per year. Discrepancies were also observed among the top 11 countries regarding emphasis on public health research, with Finland and Italy having higher, and China and the Netherlands lower, emphases. CONCLUSIONS: There is declining emphasis on the public health area in the ARD-related literature. Under the ongoing global situation of ARD, primary prevention will remain key for some time, warranting efforts to rectify the current trend in ARD-related research.

Clinical study of asbestos-related lung cancer diagnosed by asbestos medical examination.

AIM: People with occupational exposure to asbestos demonstrate a high incidence of lung cancer. Asbestos medical examination for those at risk was implemented as a national policy in Japan. This study aimed to characterize patients with asbestos-related lung cancer who were diagnosed by these examinations. METHODS: We retrospectively investigated 120 individuals exposed to asbestos who were examined from 2008 to 2016 at our institution. Clinical data, including CT findings and time-related exposure variables, were evaluated. Each asbestos-related change was assigned 1 point if present, and the scores were compared between patients with and without asbestos-related lung cancer using the Mann-Whitney U test and Fisher's exact test. RESULTS: Five patients were diagnosed with lung cancer, and four underwent surgical treatment. At the time of writing, three of four operated patients were alive without recurrence, with a similar prognosis to patients with lung cancer unrelated to asbestos. Average scores for asbestos-related findings on CT Scan were 1.8 (9/5) for patients with lung cancer and 0.79 (91/115) for those without lung cancer. CONCLUSION: Patients with lung cancer had significantly more asbestos-related changes on CT scan than those without lung cancer. Concurrent calcified plaque and interstitial changes might be a predictor of lung cancer incidence. Although further investigation with a larger study group is needed, regular medical examination and CT scan every 6 months might contribute to the early detection of lung cancer with asbestos-related changes on CT.

Asbestos fibre burden in gallbladder: A case study.

The methods conventionally used to determine the burden of asbestos fibres inhaled/incorporated in lung require chemical digestion of the biological matrix before counting/characterising the inorganic fibrous phases under scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM/EDS). Asbestos fibres can also be present in extra-pulmonary organs, and we set out to quantify the fibres in gallbladder. Although the standardised procedure requires approximately 5 × 10-1 g of wet tissue, this amount of tissue is not always available. We applied the procedure on about 9 × 10-4 g of gallbladder from a patient with known environmental and workplace exposure to asbestos. The patient died of malignant pleural mesothelioma and was also affected by severe bile-tract problems. The traditional procedure of digesting tissue samples in NaClO and filtering the resulting suspension was carried out. The filter was then examined under SEM/EDS using two methods 1. following the standardised procedure to assess the fibre burden in lung by investigating only 2 mm2 of the filter (660 microscopic fields), and 2. analysing all the microscopic fields in one-quarter of the filter (about 82 mm2). In parallel, histological sections (prepared in the usual way for medical diagnosis) were analysed without digestion or manipulation of the sample using variable pressure SEM/EDS. The fibre counts obtained using the two methods were of the same order of magnitude, i.e., ∼105 fibres/g of wet tissue. We showed that the counting of fibres in human tissue may be successfully carried out even when a limited amount of tissue is available. We also found that, when exposure to asbestos is considerable, the number of asbestos fibres accumulating in the gallbladder may be significant.

Occupational Burden of Asbestos-Related Diseases in Korea, 1998–2013: Asbestosis, Mesothelioma, Lung Cancer, Laryngeal Cancer, and Ovarian Cancer

BACKGROUND: Asbestos exposure causes asbestos-related diseases (ARDs) including asbestosis, malignant mesothelioma, lung cancer, laryngeal cancer, and ovarian cancer. Although Korea used substantial amounts of asbestos in the past, no study has focused on its occupational burden of disease (OBD). Therefore, this study aimed to determine the OBDs of ARDs in Korea. METHODS: The CARcinogen Exposure (CAREX) database was used to determine the proportion of exposed population. Relative risks for lung cancer, laryngeal cancer, and ovarian cancer were used to determine the population-attributable fraction. Data for deaths caused by ARDs during 1998–2013 were obtained from the World Health Organization mortality database. The potential years of life lost (PYLL) and annual average PYLL (APYLL) indicated OBDs. RESULTS: In Korea, the number of ARD-attributable deaths and PYLL due to all ARDs during 1998–2013 were 4,492 and 71,763.7, respectively. The number of attributable deaths and PYLL due to asbestosis, malignant mesothelioma, lung cancer, laryngeal cancer, and ovarian cancer were 37 and 554.2, 808 and 15,877.0, 3,256 and 47,375.9, 120 and 1,605.5, and 271 and 6,331.1, respectively; additionally, the APYLL were 15.0, 19.7, 14.6, 13.4, and 23.4, respectively, and the average age at death was 70.4, 62.6, 69.1, 69.9, and 61.8, respectively. Our study showed that although the use of asbestos has ceased in Korea, the incidence of ARDs tends to increase. CONCLUSION: Therefore, efforts to reduce future OBDs of ARDs, including early detection and proper management of ARDs, are needed in Korea.

Transnational Dynamics Amid Poor Regulations: Taiwan's Asbestos Ban Actions and Experiences.

This article describes the history of the asbestos use regulation process in Taiwan and the associated factors leading to its total ban in 2018. Despite the long history of asbestos mining and manufacturing since the Japanese colonial period, attempts to understand the impact of asbestos on the health of the population and to control its use did not emerge until the early 1980s. We attempted to investigate the driving forces and obstructions involved in asbestos regulations by reviewing available public sources and scientific journal articles and conducting interviews with key propagators of the asbestos regulation and ban. Correlation between asbestos exposure and asbestos-related diseases has already been established; however, authorities have been unable to effectively regulate the extensive application of asbestos in various light industries that support economic growth since the 1960s. More stringent regulations on asbestos use in industries and an eventual ban were caused indirectly by appeals made by visionary scholars and healthcare professionals but also due to the subsidence of asbestos-related industries. With the elucidation of factors that affect asbestos regulation and ban, a thorough long-term healthcare plan for the neglected victims of asbestos-related diseases and upstream measures for policy change must be developed.