Disputes on The Safety of Asbestos

Our plain-English summary of Disputes on The Safety of Asbestos, by C. Wagner (1974).

The study

• Author: C. Wagner
• Published: New Scientist, March 7th 1974
• Type of article: Journal article
• 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 1974 New Scientist article was a magazine commentary, not a research study. It recounted the history of asbestos and disease and reproduced a summary of findings from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). The author recounted that the author's group in South Africa diagnosed 16 mesotheliomas (tumours of the chest lining) in 1957, and that 85 had occurred by 1961. Most were linked to the Cape Province area where crocidolite (blue asbestos) was mined, and in some cases exposure had lasted only a few months. The IARC summary listed nine numbered points. One said there was no evidence of an increased rate of mesotheliomas among miners or nearby residents in any mining area except the Cape crocidolite mines. Others said that mesotheliomas had occurred after neighbourhood exposure and after cleaning relatives' work clothes, and that there was no evidence that anyone had developed disease from asbestos in ambient air. It said the mesothelioma risk was, on present evidence, agreed to be greatest with crocidolite. The author described a 1973 series in The New Yorker as presenting a prejudiced view.

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: Magazine commentary giving a historical overview of asbestos hazards and a summary of IARC findings; not an original research study
• Who was studied: No study population of its own; the article discusses asbestos workers, miners and residents, including the author's earlier work on asbestos mining areas in South Africa compared with mines in Quebec, Canada and the USSR
• Exposure: Asbestos in general: chrysotile (white) and the amphiboles crocidolite (blue) and amosite (brown), from mining, industrial work, neighbourhood and household exposure
• Main results:
  • The author recounted that the author's group in South Africa diagnosed 16 mesotheliomas in 1957, and that 85 had occurred by 1961
  • The author stated that in some of these South African mesothelioma cases the exposure had lasted only a few months
  • The IARC summary stated there was no evidence of an increased rate of mesotheliomas among miners or people living near mines in any mining area except the crocidolite mines in the Cape Province
  • The IARC summary stated that, on present evidence, the risk of mesothelioma was agreed to be greatest with crocidolite
  • The IARC summary stated that mesotheliomas had occurred in people exposed through cleaning the protective clothing of relatives who brought their overalls home
  • The IARC summary stated there was no evidence that anyone had developed disease from asbestos in the ambient air
  • The author reported that a 1967 survey of a large textile factory found lung cancer incidence among those employed after 1933 was no greater than in the general population
• The authors' conclusion: The author presented the IARC findings as a summary of current scientific knowledge. The author also described a 1973 New Yorker series on asbestos dangers to the general population as a prejudiced view.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: IARC, Mesothelioma, Cape Province, Crocidolite.

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