Trends in asbestos body counts in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid over two decades

Abstract

Trends in asbestos body counts in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid over two decades. P. Dumortier, J. Thimpont, V. de Maertelaer, P. De Vuyst. #ERS Journals Ltd 2003. ABSTRACT: As in most western countries, the use of asbestos has decreased in Belgium since the mid 19709s. Successive regulations have lowered the permissible levels of exposure and prohibited the use of various asbestos products.In order to assess the impact of these prevention measures on the pulmonary fibre burden of asbestos-exposed patients, the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) asbestos body (AB) analysis database of the authors9 laboratory was reviewed for the period 1983-2000.A total of 4,772 cases were considered, of which 95% were males. AB concentration exceeded 1 AB?mL BALF -1 in 36.1%. There was essentially no change in the mean concentration of AB over the period evaluated. However, the concentrations in individuals with very high levels decreased over time. This was associated with a shift in exposure categories from primary asbestos workers to those exposed during handling of asbestos-containing materials or to asbestos in place in buildings or industrial sites. This is consistent with epidemiological data indicating that the number of severe cases of asbestosis caused by very high cumulated doses decreases but that benign pleural diseases and mesothelioma remain the most frequent asbestos-related diseases. Past prevention measures are not expected to have a measurable influence on the incidence of mesothelioma in the near future.

Histological findings and lung dust analysis as the basis for occupational disease compensation in asbestos-related lung cancer in Germany

“…Nevertheless, asbestos bodies were easily detectable in the lung dust analyses and histological evaluations (Figure 3a). This fact is confirmed by other authors [25][26][27] and in other studies [28]. Asbestos fibers, including chrysotile/white asbesbeen diagnosed as a bridge finding for BK 4104, recognition as an occupational disease had been recommended and this would not have been possible without the quite demanding lung dust analysis and histological examination applying iron staining.…”

Asbestos bodies in bronchoalveolar lavage in the 21st century: a time-trend analysis in a clinical population

“…We found that the slow decrease in AB in BAL that was observed in a similar study covering the latter part of the 20th century8 has been followed by a much faster decline in the 21st century.…”

“…This decrease is four times more pronounced than the trend from around 0.6 AB/mL in 1983 to around 0.4 AB/mL in 2000 reported by Dumortier et al ,8 also in Belgium. The acceleration in the decline of AB in BAL observed in our study, compared with the earlier study,8 presumably reflects the different phases in the decrease of asbestos usage in Belgium over the past decades, combined with changes in the types of work. Belgium was one of the top asbestos-consuming countries during the 1960s;23 asbestos usage started to decrease after the mid-1970s until finally (nearly) all use of asbestos was banned (1998).…”

“…Participants were allocated, without knowledge of their BAL AB counts, to one of five occupational groups defined according to presumed intensities of past asbestos exposure 8. The first group (n=68, 11.9%) consisted of workers with definite contact with raw asbestos (eg, shipyard workers, insulation workers).…”

“…As is done customarily, including in the analysis of Dumortier et al ,8 we added a value of half the detection limit (ie, 0.05) to all zero values. Admittedly, the detection limit varies with the amount of BAL fluid recovered and/or analysed.…”