Industrial Hygiene Journal - Asbestos - 1958

Our plain-English summary of Industrial Hygiene Journal - Asbestos - 1958 (1958).

The study

• Published: Industrial Hygiene Journal, Volume 19 No1. April 1st 1958
• 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 1958 item is not a research study. It is a 'Hygienic Guide' on asbestos, a short reference sheet in the Industrial Hygiene Journal. The scans also include part of a silica guide and an order form. The guide recommended a maximum of 5 million particles per cubic foot of air over 8 hours, measured by the impinger sampling procedure. The damaged text suggests the limit rested on industrial experience and animal experiments. The guide stated that long-continued inhalation of asbestos dust causes asbestosis. It listed symptoms of advanced asbestosis, including cough and shortness of breath, and noted reports of an increased incidence of lung cancer in persons with asbestosis. It said appreciable dust reductions would lower asbestosis incidence and severity. It named dust exposure from spinning and weaving asbestos textiles, and listed other uses such as gaskets, pipe covering and brake linings. It recommended enclosure or local exhaust ventilation, and chest examinations before and during employment, including sputum checks for asbestosis bodies. It said there was no satisfactory treatment other than removal from exposure and therapy for any complicating infection.

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: Hygienic Guide (an industrial hygiene reference sheet), not a research study; no authors are named
• Exposure: Asbestos dust in industry. The guide names the spinning and weaving of asbestos textiles as resulting in dust exposure. It also lists uses of asbestos: valve packings, gaskets, boiler lagging, pipe covering, protective clothing, automotive brake linings, asbestos cement products, and heat insulating and fireproofing materials
• Main results:
  • Recommended maximum atmospheric concentration of asbestos dust: 5 million particles per cubic foot of air (8 hours), based on the impinger sampling procedure
  • The basis given for the recommendation appears (in damaged text) to be experience in industry and animal experiments
  • Chief symptoms of advanced asbestosis were listed as including cough, dyspnea (shortness of breath) and chest pains beneath the breastbone
  • The guide stated there had been reports of an increased incidence of lung cancer in persons with asbestosis
  • The guide stated that any appreciable decrease in asbestos dust in the breathing air would decrease the incidence and severity of asbestosis
  • Recommended controls were enclosure or local exhaust ventilation as the principal means, with U.S. Bureau of Mines approved dust respirators for some operations
  • Recommended medical procedures were clinical and radiographic chest examinations before job assignment, and periodic examinations including sputum tests for asbestosis bodies and chest x-rays
  • No satisfactory treatment was given other than removal from exposure and therapy for any complicating infection
• The authors' conclusion: The guide stated that prevention of asbestosis depends entirely on preventing exposure to dust concentrations high enough to produce the characteristic reaction
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The guide stated that space limitations made it impossible to list all methods of exposure evaluation

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Industrial Hygiene, Million Particles per Cubic Foot (mppcf), Midget Impinger, Lung Cancer, Asbestos Textiles, Gasket, Pipe Covering, Brake Lining.

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