[Epidemiologic survey of pleural plaques among inhabitants of Matsubase exposed to asbestos].

ABSTRACT

A high prevalence of pleural plaques (41.5%, 148/357) was found during a mass screening for lung cancer in Matsubase town in 1988. The inhabitants of this town were carefully studied each year from 1988 to 1993. The vast majority (81.2%) of inhabitants over the age of 20 years underwent chest roentgenography at least once during this period. Pleural plaques were detected by CT in 938 subjects, which is 17.3% of those studied and 4.1% of the total population. A total of 89 had an occupational history of asbestos exposure, 64 (71.9%) of whom had pleural plaques. However, these subjects with occupational exposure accounted for only 6.8% of the 938 subjects, and therefore most of the pleural plaques seemed to have been caused by general environmental exposure. The incidence of plaques was greater in older subjects: among those in the seventh decade of life it was more than eight times higher than among those in the fourth decade of life. Anthophyllite was detected in the main asbestos mill. The concentrations of asbestos fibers in the air and water near the old asbestos mills and factories were not high. The death rates and the adjusted mortality rates due to lung cancer in Matsubase were lower than in surrounding towns and lower than in Kumamoto prefecture as a whole. These results indicate that there is now no environmental contamination by asbestos fibers in Matsubase town. No cases of malignant mesothelioma have been confirmed in this town during the past 17 years.