We analysed data from a cohort of 1966 subjects (889 men and 1077 women) employed by an Italian asbestos (mainly textile) company in the period 1946 -1984, who were followed-up to 2004. A total of 62 025 person-years of observation were recorded. We computed standardised mortality ratios (SMR) for all causes and selected cancer sites using national death rates for each 5-year calendar period and age group. There were 68 deaths from mesothelioma (25 men and 43 women, 39 pleural and 29 peritoneal) vs 1.6 expected (SMR ¼ 4159), and 109 from lung cancer vs 35.1 expected (SMR ¼ 310). The SMRs of pleural/peritoneal cancer were 6661 for subjects exposed only before 30 years of age, 8019 for those first exposed before 30 and still employed at 30 -39 years of age and 5786 for those first exposed before 30 and still employed at 40 or more years of age. The corresponding SMRs for lung cancer were 227, 446 and 562. The SMR of mesothelioma was strongly related to time since first exposure. The SMR of lung cancer, but not of mesothelioma, appeared to be related to subsequent exposures.

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This paper summarises the past, present and future of asbestos exposure. The future scenarios as to the mesothelioma incidence in countries, where asbestos has been banned, are discussed.

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Synopsis A certain number of hairdressing parlour employers have been taken to court because their employees allegedly suffered from lung allergies caused by the vapours from PPD (paraphenylendiamine) which allegedly developed when applying hair dyes. These conclusions may be reached if the specific hazards of the rubber and particularly leather and fur dyeing industry are extrapolated as is widely reported in literature, to hairdressing employees. The purpose of this study is to assess the actual exposure rate to PPD vapours of hairdressing employees during a working day, on the basis of the type and characteristics of the salon (small, medium and large), the number of dye applications per day and the chemical-physical characteristics of the oxidation dyes. The results prove that, even under the hypothesis of experimental conditions pushed to the extreme, it is not reasonable to speak of exposure to PPD through the lungs of hairdressing employees.

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