OBJECTIVES Environmental exposure of the general population to asbestos in Poland is mainly due to degradation of very popular asbestos-cement products and the resultant release of the elementary asbestos fibres into the ambient air. Assessments of environmental pollution by asbestos were based on the volume of the raw material used, amount of manufactured asbestos products, and measuring the c...

The most effective way of reducing the global burden of asbestos-related diseases is through the implementation of asbestos bans and minimising occupational and non-occupational exposure to respirable asbestos fibres. Australia's asbestos consumption peaked in the 1970s with Australia widely thought to have had among the highest per-capita asbestos consumption level of any country. Australia's ...

This report focuses on identifying the important asbestos fibertype(s) in the etiology of the asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma. In the last century all three of the commercial fiber types grunerite (amosite) asbestos, chrysotile asbestos and riebeckite (crocidolite) asbestoswere mined, milled and used to fabricate asbestos-containing products in South Afiica. The cases are a consecutive ser...

BACKGROUND Non-occupational exposure to asbestos has been of increasing interest, but residential exposure to asbestos often focuses on a few high-profile asbestos users. This study aimed to identify industrial sites producing asbestos goods in a given area and time period. METHODS A search of trade directories was carried out for industrial sites in West Yorkshire, England, where asbestos ma...

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) still has a dismal prognosis, and in the next 35 years it is calculated that about one-quarter of a million deaths will occur as a result of this disease in Western Europe [1]. History of asbestos exposure is reported in 70–80% of all cases of mesothelioma and lifetime risk for exposed individuals is up to 20% [2–4]. The two major species of asbestos, crocid...

[no abstract available]

Fibre concentrations of asbestos were measured in the air of a communal dining room in which the damaged ceiling had a sprayed on coating of insulation containing asbestos. The average concentration of crocidolite asbestos fibres was 4 f/cm3, 20 times the highest air concentration that appears to have been reported previously for a public building. It is concluded that although air concentratio...

The International Labour Organization-World Health Organization Outline for the Development of National Programmes for Elimination of asbestos-related diseases recommends the “Enhancement of international cooperation to stimulate the transfer of know-how on alternatives to asbestos and the best practices for prevention of asbestos-related diseases” as a strategic action to be developed at natio...

In 1964 it was first reported that asbestos workers had a higher risk of gastrointestinal cancer. This notion has persisted despite several studies that have found no increased risk. The risks of gastrointestinal cancer to workers exposed to asbestos were reassessed, based on the results of published studies on 32 independent cohorts of asbestos workers. Not all studies provided risk estimates ...