Discussion Summary - Bignon and Pooley

Our plain-English summary of Discussion Summary - Bignon and Pooley, by J. Bignon, F.D. Pooley (1980).

The study

• Authors: J. Bignon, F.D. Pooley
• Published: BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF MINERAL FIBRES (J.C. WAGNER, EDITOR), LYON: IARC SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS, VOLUME 30, PP. 875-878 (1980)
• 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 item is not a research study. It is the authors' written summary of a discussion among participants at a scientific meeting, published in an IARC volume on the biological effects of mineral fibres. It recorded remarks and opinions, not data from any single study. Hunter was recorded as saying that death certificates produced double the number of mesothelioma cases for a particular country when compared with pathological findings. Jones observed that pleural plaques are almost always indicators of asbestos exposure. The summary added that in areas of Austria where tremolite asbestos occurs, pleural plaques are endemic but no excess of cancer or other disease exists. On the Quebec miners and millers, Liddell reported that X-ray data so far appeared better than lung function tests at predicting mortality. Becklake said the proposed linear dose-response relationship was based on a 'gut feeling' and relied mainly on heavily exposed groups. McDonald said epidemiological studies cannot detect changes below about 20-40%. Peto said decisions would have to be made on existing dose-response data. The summary closed by recording concern that no scientific contribution yet produced could help in setting health standards.

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: Discussion summary: a record of participants' remarks at a scientific meeting, not an original study or a systematic review
• Who was studied: No study population. The summary recorded comments by named meeting participants (including Langer, Gluckman, Hunter, Seal, Jones, Miller, Gilson, Alexander, Liddell, Becklake, Enterline, McDonald, Smither and Peto). Populations mentioned in the remarks included Quebec miners and millers and people in areas of Austria
• Exposure: Asbestos and mineral fibres in general. Tremolite asbestos was mentioned for Austria, and asbestos mining and milling for Quebec
• Main results:
  • Hunter was recorded as saying that death certificates were not sufficient, because they produced double the number of mesothelioma cases for a particular country when compared with pathological findings
  • Jones observed that pleural plaques occur frequently in certain populations and are almost always indicators of asbestos exposure
  • The summary stated that in areas of Austria where tremolite asbestos occurs, pleural plaques are endemic but no excess of cancer or other disease exists
  • Liddell stated that, in the Quebec miners and millers, the data so far indicated that X-ray data were better at predicting mortality than lung function tests (the line is partly cut off in the scan)
  • Becklake said the proposed linear dose-response relationship in the Quebec data was based on a 'gut feeling' and relied mainly on heavily exposed groups that no longer existed in Quebec
  • McDonald said the Quebec data were considered linear for practical reasons only, and that epidemiological studies cannot detect changes below about 20-40% in any given situation
  • Peto stated that no more dose-response information was available and that decisions would have to be made on the basis of existing data
• The authors' conclusion: The authors did not state a conclusion of their own. The summary ended by recording concern, expressed in the discussion, that no scientific contribution yet produced could help in setting standards for safeguarding health in the workplace and in the environment at large

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: IARC, Death Certificate, Mesothelioma, Pleural Plaques, Asbestos Exposure, Tremolite, Endemic, Dose-response relationship.

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