Asbestos and Human Health

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos and Human Health.

The study

• Published: n.d.
• Type of article: Report
• Our copy: from Johns-Manville's own medical library. The article is still under copyright, so we describe it here rather than post it.

In plain English

This undated, unsigned document was not an original study. It described itself as summarizing asbestos uses, health problems linked to on-the-job exposure to asbestos dust, and ongoing research. It also described Johns-Manville Corporation's dust-control and research-funding programs; its sources run to 1969. It discussed chrysotile, crocidolite, amosite and anthophyllite. The document stated there was no evidence that anyone in the general public had contracted disease from wear or weathering of asbestos-containing products. It described other researchers' work. Gross and colleagues found no chrysotile in the cores of 28 ferruginous bodies from the lungs of urban dwellers. A study of insulation workers was described as showing increased lung cancer only among cigarette smokers. Knox, Doll and Hill reported that, after dust control, lung cancer in one British asbestos textile plant was about the same as in the general British population. Mesothelioma clusters in South African crocidolite areas were contrasted with reports from Finland and Canada. The document concluded that, while research continued, the facts thus far indicated that sweeping inferences about possible dangers of asbestos air pollution were unjustified.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Non-systematic summary or position paper describing other studies and industry (Johns-Manville) programs; no original research
• Who was studied: No study population of its own. It discussed workers in asbestos mines, mills, factories and building and insulation trades, and city dwellers in the general public, as described in other studies.
• Exposure: Asbestos dust: chrysotile (described as about 95 percent of US consumption, mainly from Canada), crocidolite, amosite and anthophyllite; occupational inhalation, and possible exposure from products and urban air
• Main results:
  • The document stated there was no evidence that anyone in the general public had contracted disease from the wearing or weathering of brake linings, floor tile, roofing, panels or similar asbestos-containing items.
  • Citing Gross et al. (1969): using electron diffraction, chrysotile was excluded as the core material of all 28 ferruginous bodies taken from the lungs of urban dwellers not occupationally exposed to asbestos.
  • Citing Selikoff et al.: among insulation workers, the document said exposure increased lung cancer risk only among cigarette smokers, and non-smoking insulation workers showed no more than the expected rate.
  • Citing Knox, Doll and Hill (1968): in one British asbestos textile plant, the incidence of lung cancer among workers in 1965 and 1968, after dust control measures, was about the same as for the general British population.
  • On mesothelioma, the document said a high frequency was reported from certain South African crocidolite areas. Only two mesotheliomas were found in another crocidolite mining area several hundred miles away. No unusual incidence was found in the mining areas of Finland and Canada.
  • In Britain, the document said two mesothelioma cases were reported for every thousand lung cancer cases from all causes. A note cited about 50 mesothelioma cases reported annually in Great Britain.
  • Citing McVittie: clinical asbestosis takes on average about 17 years to develop.
  • Citing Lynch of the US Public Health Service: laboratory tests of automotive brake linings found that normal wear released insignificant amounts of asbestos fiber into the air.
  • Citing a British Ministry of Labour panel of nine medical experts: crocidolite was described as most clearly associated with health hazards for people.
• The authors' conclusion: The document concluded that, while research continued, the facts thus far indicated that sweeping inferences about the possible dangers of asbestos air pollution were unjustified.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Johns-Manville, Chrysotile, Crocidolite, Amosite, Anthophyllite, Ferruginous body, Insulator, Lung Cancer.

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