Reconstructing historical exposure to asbestos: the validation of 'educated guesses'.
Occup Med (Lond)
; 72(8): 534-540, 2022 12 07.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-35943161
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
In both the epidemiological and legal context, the causal attribution of asbestos-related lung diseases requires retrospective exposure assessment (REA).AIMS:
To assess the correlation between the retrospective assessment of occupational and anthropogenic environmental exposure to asbestos and its content in the lung tissue.METHODS:
Based on the available exposure information, a team of occupational physicians retrospectively assessed cumulative exposure to asbestos in 24 subjects who died of asbestos-related diseases. The asbestos lung content was analysed using analytical scanning electron microscope (SEM-EDS). The Log10 asbestos fibre count in the autoptic samples was predicted as a function of the Log10 estimated cumulative exposure using univariate regression analysis.RESULTS:
The median count of asbestos fibres by grams of dry weight (ff/gdw) in the lung tissue was 81 339 (range 0-2 135 849.06); it was 287 144 (range 0-2 135 849.06) among the occupationally exposed, and 29 671 (range 0-116 891) among the subjects who only had anthropogenic environmental and/or household exposure. Amphiboles, and particularly amosite (52%) and crocidolite (43%), were detected in all the study subjects. Chrysotile was not detected in any of the samples. Overall, the retrospective estimate of lifetime cumulative exposure to asbestos showed a moderate correlation with the total asbestos fibre count in the autoptic lung, with the regression model explaining 38-55% of the total variance.CONCLUSIONS:
Detailed information on occupational, environmental and household exposure circumstances would be indispensable for experienced industrial hygienists and/or occupational physicians to reliably assess past exposure to amphiboles or mixed types of asbestos.
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Amianto
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2022
Tipo de documento:
Article