Assessment of environmental and domestic exposure to tremolite in New Caledonia.
From: Archives of Environmental Health
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Date: 2/1/2004
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Author: Billon-Galland, Marie-Annick; Bugel, Isabelle; Fevotte, Joelle; Goldberg, Marcel; Goldberg, Paquerette; Luce, Daniele; Salomon, Christine
In this study, the authors characterized exposure to asbestos in the population of New Caledonia, an area where a high mesothelioma incidence was found to be associated with the use of a tremolite-containing whitewash on dwellings. The authors collected airborne samples from various sources. Lung tissue samples or bronchoalveolar lavage fluids were available for 80 subjects, who were interviewed regarding their residential and occupational histories. The authors analyzed all samples by ...
<3 [micro]m, and aspect ratio><0.05
Outside the village 2.35 1.07 NS
Note: NS = nonsignificant.
Table 3.--Descriptive Data on the Subjects from New Caledonia
Included in the Present Analysis
Lung tissue
exposure to po
Characteristic Ever Never
Total number of subjects 10 42
AB counting (light microscopy) 10 42
Fiber counting (electron 10 42
microscopy)
Sex
Men 6 34
Women 4 8
Occupational exposure 3 17
to asbestos
Diagnosis
Mesothelioma 1 0
Lung cancer 9 29
Lung fibrosis 0 4
Pleural plaques 0 1
Other nonmalignant 0 8
respiratory diseases
Age (yr) (mean [+ or -] SD) 66.7[+ or -]7.3 55.3[+ or -]14.0
Duration of exposure (yr) 34.2[+ or -]20.2
(mean [+ or -] SD)
BALF
exposure to po
Characteristic Ever Never
Total number of subjects 23 5
AB counting (light microscopy) 13 0
Fiber counting (electron 22 5
microscopy)
Sex
Men 12 4
Women 11 1
Occupational exposure 6 4
to asbestos
Diagnosis
Mesothelioma 14 1
Lung cancer 0 0
Lung fibrosis 1 0
Pleural plaques 5 2
Other nonmalignant 3 2
respiratory diseases
Age (yr) (mean [+ or -] SD) 60.9[+ or -]10.4 53.2[+ or -]6.7
Duration of exposure (yr) 33.2[+ or -]18.7
(mean [+ or -] SD)
Note: NS = nonsignificant
Table 4.--Geometric Mean Tremolite and Chrysotile Concentrations
in BALF (in fibers/ml) in Subjects with and without Exposure to Po
Tremolite
Subjects ever
exposed to po
Characteristic n GM GSD
Total 22 460 7.1
Exposure duration [dagger]
[less than or equal to] 20 yr 8 387 11.0><0.001
Exposure duration [dagger]
[less than or equal to] 20 yr --><0.01
Mesothelioma 0 --
Pleural plaques 1 0.13 -- --
Lung fibrosis 4 0.11 2.2 --
Other 8 0.12 2.6 --
p NS
Chrysotile
Subjects ever Subjects never
exposed to po exposed to po
Characteristic GM GSD GM GSD p *
Total 0.13 3.6 0.10 2.9 NS
Exposure duration [dagger]
[less than or equal to] 20 yr -- 0.05 7.3><0.05
women
Occupational
exposure
to asbestos
Yes 3 878 31.8 17 130 6.2
No 7 2825 22.9 25 87 5.3
p yes vs. no NS NS
Diagnosis
Lung cancer 9 2314 25.3 29 133 6.3
Mesothelioma 1 512 -- 0 --
Pleural plaques 0 -- 1 20 --
Lung fibrosis 0 -- 4 65 8.2
Other 0 -- 8 62 2.5
p NS NS
Subject with><0.05 5 55.6 6 20.7 NS
Mesothelioma -- 6 54.5 -- --
Pleural plaques -- 1 50.0 0 0 NS
Lung fibrosis -- -- -- 1 25.0 --
Other -- 1 100 0 0 NS
p NS NS
Notes: GM = geometric mean; GSD = geometric standard deviation;
NS = nonsignificant.
* p ever exposed vs. never exposed.
Table 7.--Sizing Data by Fiber Type in Biological Samples in Subjects
with and without Exposure to Po
Tremolite
Ever Never
Characteristic exposed to po exposed to po p
No. of subjects 24 15
(in whom fibers were identified)
No. of fibers identified 585 65 NS
Fibers>
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