Pleural abnormalities and exposure to elongate mineral particles in Minnesota iron ore (taconite) workers

Perlman, D.; Mandel, Jeffrey H.; Odo, Nnaemeka U.; Ryan, Andrew D.; Lambert, Christine; MacLehose, Richard F.; Ramachandran, Gurumurthy; Alexander, Bruce H.

doi:10.1002/ajim.22828

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 40 publications

(43 reference statements)

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“…Since then, Perlman et al. ( 2018 ) reported that chest x‐rays of spouses of taconite workers have not shown pleural or parenchymal abnormalities above background. This finding provides supporting evidence of a lack of exposure to EMPs for community members who were not themselves occupationally exposed to asbestos.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The existing epidemiological and toxicological data do not support increased risk of cancers from nonasbestiform amphibole EMPs in Northshore workers (Allen et al., 2014 , 2015a , 2015b ; Lambert et al., 2016 ). Although cumulative EMP exposure was associated with the prevalence of pleural abnormalities in taconite workers on the MIR, the association was not specific to workers potentially exposed to nonasbestiform amphibole EMPs and the prevalence of pleural abnormalities was not elevated in the spouses of workers (Perlman et al., 2018 ). The results of particulate matter characterization from independent sampling of ambient air in the MIR communities is consistent with the Silver Bay ambient air monitoring data (Monson Geerts et al., 2019 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Integration of Evidence on Community Cancer Risks from Elongate Mineral Particles in Silver Bay, Minnesota

Dell¹,

Gallagher²,

Yost³

et al. 2021

Risk Analysis

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The potential for cancer‐related risks to community members from ambient exposure to elongate mineral particles (EMPs) in taconite processing has not been formally evaluated. We evaluated 926 ambient air samples including 12,928 EMPs (particle structures with length‐to‐width ratio ≥3:1) collected over 26 years near a taconite processing facility in Silver Bay, Minnesota. Eighty‐two percent of EMPs were ≤3 μm in length and 97% of EMPs had an average aspect ratio <20:1. A total of 935 (7.3%) EMPs had length >5 μm and AR ≥3:1. Average ambient concentration of NIOSH countable amphibole EMPs over all years was 0.000387 EMPs per cubic centimeter (EMP/cm3). Of 12,765 nonchrysotile EMPs, the number of amphiboles with length and width dimensions that correlate best with asbestos‐related carcinogenicity ranged from four (0.03%) to 13 (0.1%) and the associated ambient amphibole air concentrations ranged from 0.000003 to 0.000007 EMP/cm3. After 65 years of taconite processing in Silver Bay, evidence of an increased risk of mesothelioma and lung cancer in community members who did not work in the taconite industry is lacking. The absence of an increased risk of asbestos‐related cancer in the Silver Bay community is coherent with supporting evidence from epidemiological and toxicological studies, as well as ambient exposure data and lake sediment data collected in Minnesota Iron Range communities. Collectively, the data provide consistent evidence that nonasbestiform amphibole minerals lack the carcinogenic potential exhibited by amphibole asbestos.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%