Malignant Mesothelioma, Airborne Asbestos, and the Need for Accuracy in Chrysotile Risk Assessments

Abstract

A man diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma sought legal representation with the author's law firm. He worked 33 years in a wire and cable factory in the northeastern United States (Connecticut) that exclusively used chrysotile asbestos in its manufacturing process. This is the first report of mesothelioma arising from employees of this factory. This report provides additional support for the proposition that chrysotile asbestos can cause malignant mesothelioma in humans. If chrysotile risk assessments are to be accurate, then the literature should contain an accurate accounting of all mesotheliomas alleged to be caused by chrysotile asbestos. This is important not just for public health professionals but also for individuals and companies involved in litigation over asbestos-related diseases. If reports such as these remain unknown, it is probable that cases of mesothelioma among chrysotile-exposed cohorts would go unrecognized and chrysotile-using factories would be incorrectly cited as having no mesotheliomas among their employees.

The Four Most Pernicious Myths in Asbestos Litigation: Part I: Safe Chrysotile and Idiopathic Mesothelioma

“…Most recently, there has been a report of the first known case of pleural mesothelioma arising from a previously unstudied chrysotile-using wire and cable factory in New Haven, Connecticut [49]. A pleural mesothelioma also occurred in another worker from that factory; however, the man's father had been a lifelong union asbestos worker who also died from pleural mesothelioma approximately 20 years earlier.…”