Report and Recommendations of the Working Group on Asbestos and Cancer

Our plain-English summary of Report and Recommendations of the Working Group on Asbestos and Cancer (1965).

The study

• Published: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (under the auspices of the Geographical Pathology Section, International Union Against Cancer; meeting held in New York, October 1964) (1965)
• 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 document was a report and set of recommendations from an international working group on asbestos and cancer. It was not a new study: the group met, split into working parties, and agreed on findings and recommendations. The group noted that evidence from several countries suggested crocidolite may be of particular importance for mesotheliomas. It added that it could not be concluded that only this fiber type was involved, and that more investigation was needed. It also noted that some asbestos fibers contain oils, waxes, other organic matter and trace elements such as nickel, and that the role of these materials in tumors was not yet clear. The authors concluded that a more serious and widespread hazard from asbestos dust may exist than was widely appreciated. The group recommended comparative studies of populations exposed to only one fiber type, and surveys of insulation, asbestos cement, building, pipe fitting, shipbuilding and communities near mines and factories. It proposed standard methods for grading asbestosis and diagnosing diffuse mesothelioma, and reference samples of five asbestos types.

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: Consensus report and recommendations of an international working group (not an original study)
• Who was studied: No study population; the report was written by a working group of delegates from several countries
• Exposure: Asbestos dust in general, with attention to fiber types: amosite, chrysotile, crocidolite, tremolite and anthophyllite
• Main results:
  • Evidence from several countries suggested that exposure to crocidolite may be of particular importance for mesotheliomas. The group said it could not be concluded that only this fiber type was involved, and that further investigation was needed.
  • Some asbestos fibers were found to contain oils, waxes and other organic matter, and trace elements such as nickel. The role of these associated materials in tumors was described as not yet clear.
  • The group recommended comparative studies of populations exposed to only one type of fiber. Listed examples included Australia (crocidolite), Canada, Cyprus and Italy (chrysotile), and Finland (anthophyllite).
  • The group recommended extending studies to groups not yet widely investigated. These included the insulating industry (including ships), the asbestos cement and asbestos products industries, handling and transport, building, pipe fitting, ship building and breaking, and populations near mines and factories.
  • Asbestos bodies and fibers in sputum were described as an indication of exposure to asbestos dust, not evidence of asbestosis. The group suggested the term 'asbestos bodies' instead of 'asbestosis bodies'.
  • The group proposed a standard scheme for grading asbestosis at necropsy, based on the severity of interstitial fibrosis and the amount of lung tissue involved.
  • For diffuse mesothelioma, telling it apart from tumor that has spread from elsewhere was described as the main diagnostic problem.
  • The group recommended that standard reference samples of amosite, chrysotile, crocidolite, tremolite and anthophyllite be prepared and held at the Pneumoconiosis Research Unit in Johannesburg.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that, given the great increase in asbestos use in all countries, a more serious and widespread hazard from exposure to asbestos dust may exist than is widely appreciated.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Crocidolite, Mesothelioma, Asbestos-Cement.

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