INTRODUCTION Occupational exposure data on asbestos are limited and poorly integrated in Australia so that estimates of disease risk and attribution of disease causation are usually calculated from data that are not specific for local conditions. OBJECTIVE To develop a job-exposure matrix (AsbJEM) to estimate occupational asbestos exposure levels in Australia, making optimal use of the availa...

In a study of the mortality experience of 6931 employees of two New Orleans asbestos cement products manufacturing plants over 95% were traced. Chrysotile was the primary fibre used in both plants. Plant 1 also used small amounts of amosite and, later, crocidolite irregularly whereas plant 2 used crocidolite steadily in pipe production. Previously reported exposure concentration estimates were ...

Less than ten years ago, the asbestos industry enjoyed the support of every Quebec and Canadian political party. The Chrysotile Institute and the International Chrysotile Association, both located in Quebec, aggressively marketed asbestos around the world, claiming scientific evidence showed that chrysotile asbestos could be safely used. The industry created a climate of intimidation. Consequen...

BACKGROUND Scattered patches of crocidolite, one form of asbestos, were found in the surface soil in the rural county of Da-yao in southwestern China. In 1983, researchers from the West China University of Medical Sciences (WCUMS) discovered that residents of two villages in Da-yao had hyperendemic pleural plaques and excessive numbers of pleural mesotheliomas. AIMS To review and summarise ep...

-256 Wistar rats received a single injection into the right pleural cavity of UICC crocidolite in order to induce mesotheliomas. They were then given right intrapleural injections of BCG, crystalline silica, talc, carrageenan or saline (as a control). There was no significant change in the mesothelioma rate in the rats exposed to BCG, silica or talc, but there was a 3-fold increase in mesotheli...

The fibre concentrations generated during the production of friction materials, incorporating asbestos, over the past 60 years have been studied to provide cumulative dust exposure data for a mortality study of the work-force. Chrysotile has been used almost exclusively during this period. The measurements made routinely by the factory staff provided information from 1950 onwards; concentration...

Primary malignant tumours of the pleura are uncommon. Thirty-three cases (22 males, 11 females, ages 31 to 68) of diffuse pleural mesothelioma are described; all but one have a probable exposure to crocidolite asbestos (Cape blue). In a majority this exposure was in the Asbestos Hills which lie to the west of Kimberley in the north west of Cape Province. The tumour is rarely seen elsewhere in S...

Standard UICC crocidolite fibres and fibres extracted from occupationally exposed human lung tissue have been analysed by scanninng electron microscopy after different preparation procedures. A significant fibre loss has been shown due to the adhesion of fibres to the breakers. Fibres are also discarded during the washing and extraction of the lung tissue samples. The recovery was found to be 3...