Mortality and morbidity among the working population of anthophyllite asbestos miners in Finland

Abstract

Meurman, L. O., Kiviluoto, R., and Hakama, M. (1974). British Journal ofIndustrial Medicine, 31, 105-112. Mortality and morbidity among the working population of anthophyllite asbestos miners in Finland. A study has been made in Finland of the effects of anthophyllite asbestos on mortality and morbidity of 1 092 asbestos workers first employed at two mines between 1936 and 1969; 95 % of workers were traced, 248 of whom had died. A similar number of agesex-matched controls was selected from a township 60 km from the mines. The causes of death included an excess due to lung cancer and asbestosis, but cancers of the digestive system occurred in equal frequency, and neither the cases nor controls had any confirmed mesotheliomas. Assuming a multiplicative effect of asbestos and smoking, the relative risk of lung cancer was 17 for an asbestos worker who smokes in terms of a non-exposed nonsmoker. The corresponding figures were 12 for a smoker without asbestos exposure and 1-4 for an asbestos worker who did not smoke. More heavy smokers were found among the asbestos workers than among the controls. A threefold excess of dyspnoea and a twofold excess of cough were recorded for the asbestos workers compared with the controls after adjustment for smoking.

The epidermiologic relationship between pleural mesothelioma and asbestos exposure.

“…The distribuJt.ion corresponds with the populati,on deIllSilty of Finland and reveals no clusteriIllg of cases. There were no mesothelomas reported from the eommanes surrounditnig the anthOjphy1lite asbestos mine at Paakikila in the COlIDty of K!uqpio, a f.inding wblioh concurs with earlier reports (18,22).…”

Clinical features, mortality and survival of patients with asbestosis.

“…Among the same subjects the risk rate ratio for overall mortality was 2.4. Both of these figures corroborate the results of previous studies (4,14,15,16,17,22,23).…”

“…Excess mortality among asbestos workers, especially from lung cancer, has been shown in many earlier studies (4,14,15,16,17,22,23). Other types of cancer, such as malignant mesotheliomas of the pleura and peritoneum, laryngeal and ovarial carcinomas, and neoplasias of the gastrointestinal tract, may also be related to asbestos exposure (2).…”

Anthophyllite Asbestos: The Role of Fiber Width in Mesothelioma Induction Part 1: Epidemiological Studies of Finnish Anthophyllite Asbestos

“…Thus, in 1960, there was irrefutable evidence that crocidolite could cause mesothelioma and by 1994, crocidolite related mesotheliomas had been reported in every segment of the asbestos industry, on almost every continent, and in situations not associated with asbestosis. By contrast, in 1974, Meurman et al (1974 said "mesothelioma cases are rare in Finland", "being too early to draw far-reaching conclusions on the association of malignancy and anthophyllite asbestos exposure in Finland". Huuskonen (1980) said that "it is noteworthy that not yet a single case of mesothelioma has been found in workers exposed almost exclusively to anthophyllite".…”