Asbestosis in Relation to Type of Fibre, Dose, Occupation and Duration of Exposure in Textile Manufacturing

Our plain-English summary of Asbestosis in Relation to Type of Fibre, Dose, Occupation and Duration of Exposure in Textile Manufacturing, by W.J. Smither, H.C. Lewinsohn (1972).

The study

• Authors: W.J. Smither, H.C. Lewinsohn
• Published: Biological Effects of Asbestos, Lyon. October 2-5, 1972
• Type of article: Conference paper
• 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 conference paper was mainly a review of published reports on asbestosis in asbestos textile manufacturing, where chrysotile was the main fiber used. The authors reviewed 71 papers published since 1964. Textile workers were mentioned in 35, fiber type in 20, the textile operation in 14, and dust levels in only 10. They also gave data from a Rochdale, England asbestos textile factory where one author worked. That factory employed just under 1,000 people in 1970, and 8 new asbestosis cases were diagnosed that year. Of these, 4 had started work before 1933 and 2 in 1948 or later. Dust measurements there showed carding and spinning still gave the highest counts. A new wet chemical yarn process called Fortex gave much lower dust counts than conventional processes. The authors concluded that published data were too limited to assess dose and response accurately. They also concluded that where dust counts had been related to disease, asbestosis declined with strict dust control. They said the position on mesothelioma in textile work was not entirely clear, and that past crocidolite use in the U.K. may be contributing to current mesothelioma cases.

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: Review of published literature (conference paper), with some dust-level and case data from one U.K. asbestos textile factory
• Who was studied: Asbestos textile workers described in the literature reviewed, plus workers at a Rochdale, England asbestos textile factory employing just under 1,000 persons in 1970
• Exposure: Asbestos dust in textile manufacturing processes (fiberising, carding, spinning, weaving, plaiting), mainly chrysotile. Crocidolite is no longer used in U.K. asbestos textile manufacture. A Fortex wet chemical process for chrysotile yarn is also described.
• Main results:
  • In the Rochdale asbestos textile factory, 8 new cases of asbestosis were diagnosed in 1970.
  • Of those 8 cases, 4 had started employment before 1933, when the Asbestos Industry Regulations, 1931 took effect. A further 2 had started employment in 1948 or later (the article says 'since 1948').
  • The article states that all cases in employees first exposed after 1948 came from the opening, carding and spinning processes. It gives an average time for development of 13.1 years, with a range of 7 to 18 years.
  • Comparing dust levels at Rochdale textile processes in 1961, 1966 and 1971, carding and spinning operations still gave the highest counts.
  • Dust counts in Fortex processing (0.5 to 1 fibres/cc in the table) were much lower than in conventional processes.
  • Of the 71 papers reviewed, textile workers were mentioned in 35. The textile operation was recorded in 14, and only 10 reported the dust levels to which workers were exposed.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that, where dust counts have been related to disease incidence, asbestosis declines with the practice of strict dust controls. They expected even fewer cases as the effect of modern dust control becomes apparent.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors state that the world literature reviewed did not give enough data on fiber type, dose, duration of exposure and industrial process for an accurate appraisal of the dose-response relationship in textile factories.
  • The authors state that the position on mesothelioma in the asbestos textile industry is not entirely clear.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Chrysotile, Carding, Dust Control, Mesothelioma, Crocidolite.

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