Asbestos Content in Lungs of Occupationally and Nonoccupationally Exposed Individuals

Dodson, Ronald F.; Greenberg, S. Donald; Williams, Marion; Corn, Carolyn J.; O’Sullivan, Michael; Hurst, George A.

doi:10.1001/jama.1984.03350010034019

Cited by 33 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Tissue digestion studies by Roggli et al [1986] from North Carolina and Dodson et al [1984] in a cohort from East Texas and Houston indicated a general population tissue burden of 0-20 FBs per gram wet weight.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tissue burden of asbestos in nonoccupationally exposed individuals from east Texas

et al. 1999

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Background The potential for asbestos exposure among members of the general population is appreciable, considering its widespread use in many products. This study examined tissue burden of asbestos in such a population. Methods A group of 33 individuals who had no work history of occupational exposure to asbestos were included in the study. Tissue sections from areas adjacent to those sites sampled for digestion were found to be without ferruginous bodies (FB) or histopathology consistent with asbestos‐induced changes. All individuals had 20 or less FBs per gram of digested wet lung, a number considered to reflect general population levels. Tissue analysis of uncoated fiber burden was carried out by analytical electron microscopy. There was a trend of a higher likelihood of FB and asbestos fiber content correlated with age. Results The data are not consistent with the findings that chrysotile is readily found in lung tissue from the general population, in that none was found in 19 of the cases. It was almost as likely that one would find anthophyllite (12 of 33 cases) in this study. The commercial amphiboles (amosite and crocidolite) were occasionally found in the tissue from the general population and, when observed, were few in numbers. Twenty‐six of the patients had no FBs and ten had no uncoated asbestos fibers within the limits of detectability in this study. Conclusions The total tissue burden of asbestos in this study is much less than earlier reported observations from other general populations. Am. J. Ind. Med. 35:281–286, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tissue burden of asbestos in nonoccupationally exposed individuals from east Texas

et al. 1999

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“…Not surprisingly, limited data exist in the United States about cases where elevated exposure to anthophyllite has occurred. The significant presence of ferruginous bodies formed on anthophyllite in women has been linked to products such as cosmetic talc, or anthophyllite-contaminated clay where this asbestos was considered a component of the primary mineral used in the product (6,7,(12)(13)(14)(15) Churg and Warnock (15) have noted that from a medical viewpoint the "noncommercial" types of asbestos such as anthophyllite are most likely to be encountered as natural contaminants of other minerals. When such noncommercial fibers are found in tissue from the general population, they are usually shorter than 5 µm (8,15).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Unusual Case of Mixed-Dust Exposure Involving a "Noncommercial" Asbestos

Dodson¹,

Levin²

2001

Environmental Health Perspectives

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Our health center evaluated an individual for suspected pneumoconiosis, which had resulted from exposures in a foundry/metal reclamation facility. Appropriate consent forms were obtained for the procedures. Historically, individuals who work in foundries have been exposed to various types of dusts. The clinical findings in this case were consistent with silicosis with a suspicion of asbestos-induced changes as well. A sample from this individual, analyzed by electron microscopy, showed both classical and atypical ferruginous bodies. The uncoated fiber burden in this individual indicated an appreciable number of anthophyllite asbestos fibers. This finding, coupled with analysis of cores from ferruginous bodies and the presence of ferruginous bodies in areas of interstitial fibrosis, pathologically supported the diagnosis of asbestos-related disease. The unique factor associated with this case is that unlike in some settings in Finland where anthophyllite was mined and used commercially, this mineral fiber is not commonly found in commercially used asbestos products in the United States. Although the actual source of the asbestos exposure in this case is still being sought, it should be recognized that anthophyllite is a contaminant of many other minerals used in workplace environments, including foundries. The fiber burden indicates a unique type of exposure, differing from that usually construed as typical in occupational settings in the United States.

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“…The level of sensitivity based on the presence of ferruginous bodies could be used in most individuals to discriminate occupationally exposed individuals from the control subjects, since no ferruginous bodies were found in the latter. This observation is not unexpected, since fermginous body and fibcr burdens have been noted to be lower in studies of lungs from the general population in rural areas [Brecdin & Buss, 1976; Dodson e l al., 1985; Dodson et a]., 1984;Dodson et al, 19881 and those from newer metropolitan areas [Dodson et al, 19841 than levels reported for older urban areas [Churg, 19821. While an occasional ferruginous body may be found in lavage material from controls (< I per ml) [De Vuyst et al, 1987b1, the presence of ferruginous bodies in lavage samples at levels above 1 AB per ml was shown by De Vuyst to correlate with higher (occupational levels) tissue burdens [De Vuyst et al, 19881. On this basis, the levels of femginous bodies in ten of the occupationally exposed group could be used to discriminate them from controls in which no ferruginous bodies were found. The usefulness of BAL analysis for confirming exposure for the remaining occupationally exposed individuals required thc addition of data obtained by electron microscopy for quantification of the uncoated asbestos fibers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Finally, some individuals may have appreciable numbers of amphiboles (the mineral types most likely to be the cores of ferruginous bodies seen in humans), in lung tissue but are poor formers of ferruginous bodies. These individuals would logically have few ferruginous bodies and potentially high numbers of uncoated fibers [Churg et al, 1989;Dodson et al, 1984;Dodson et al, 19851. Additional sensitivity is obtained when electron microscopic analysis for uncoated fiber content supplements the data from light microscopy counting of ferruginous bodies. Such applications have been shown to successfully distinguish occupational from non-occupational past exposures in small biopsy samples [Dodson et al, 19881, as well as in samples of sputa [Dodson et al, 1989;Williams et al, 19821. Similarly, the data in the present study indicate that assessment of uncoated fibers provides a greater sensitivity for confirming past occupational exposure than do ferruginous bodies alone.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The usefulness of bronchoalveolar lavage in identifying past occupational exposure to asbestos: A light and electron microscopy study

Dodson

Garcia

O’Sullivan

et al. 1991

American J Industrial Med

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Fiberoptic bronchoscopy has permitted the development of lavage procedures for the collection of lung washes. In certain disease states this material may contain large numbers of phagocytic cells (macrophages and neutrophils). Since these phagocytes are the predominant "dust scavenger cells" in the lung, the assessment of their particulate burden as well as that of the overall lavage material has been suggested as a potentially important diagnostic tool. The studies to date have shown that the presence of ferruginous bodies is an indication of past occupational exposure. In the present study, a digestion procedure was carried out on bronchoalveolar lavage material collected from individuals who were occupationally exposed to asbestos and from samples obtained from the general population. The parameters used for distinguishing the source of these samples included both light microscopy assessment of the filters for the presence of ferruginous bodies and electron microscopic screening for the presence of uncoated fibers.

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Asbestos Content in Lungs of Occupationally and Nonoccupationally Exposed Individuals

Cited by 33 publications

References 16 publications

Tissue burden of asbestos in nonoccupationally exposed individuals from east Texas

Tissue burden of asbestos in nonoccupationally exposed individuals from east Texas

An Unusual Case of Mixed-Dust Exposure Involving a "Noncommercial" Asbestos

The usefulness of bronchoalveolar lavage in identifying past occupational exposure to asbestos: A light and electron microscopy study

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