Epidemiological Study on the Biological Effects of Asbestos Dust at the Balangero Mine (1972)

This 1972 report from the Clinica del Lavoro in Milan described studies of chrysotile miners at Balangero, near Turin, and of ship-repair dock workers in Genoa. At Balangero, 1,098 people who had worked at least one month since 1932 were identified. Of the 998 who could be traced to 31 March 1970, 270 had died. Lung tumours were relatively rare among these deaths; no mesothelioma was found. Between 1960 and 1969, lung cancer deaths among miners did not differ significantly from those among men over 35 in two nearby villages; the report noted that miners' deaths were investigated more thoroughly and that miners died considerably younger on average. About 30% of 474 miners' chest X-rays were abnormal, and this share rose with an estimated exposure 'risk index'. In Genoa, deaths from 1960 to 1969 among ship-repair (Industrial Sector) and goods-transport (Commercial Sector) dock workers were compared. Overall death rates were significantly higher in the Industrial Sector, as were lung and pleural tumours together. Each group had 7 pleural tumours. No dust was measured during most of the Balangero study period.

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From J-M's medical library

This copy comes from the Johns-Manville medical library. It was among the papers J-M kept in its medical library without an index entry.

We publish this piece for research and commentary: it shows what the medical literature in a leading asbestos company's own library said on the subject, and when. Our summary above is our own reading of it. The copyright stays with the publisher.