The Tyler asbestos workers program

Our plain-English summary of The Tyler asbestos workers program, by G.A. Hurst (1976).

The study

• Author: G.A. Hurst
• Published: 1976
• Type of article: Report
• 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 article described the Tyler Asbestos Workers Program for former workers of a Tyler plant that made thermal pipe insulation from 1954 until it closed in 1972. The plant's workers were exposed to high concentrations of amosite asbestos fibers. The article also described 1971 medical surveys by the East Texas Chest Hospital and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. Of 62 employees surveyed, 18 men had worked there ten years or longer, and eight of them had findings compatible with an epidemiologic diagnosis of asbestosis. The program began in June 1974 to provide health surveillance, early cancer detection and diagnosis. By November 30, 1976, it had identified 908 plant workers and 169 temporary Manpower workers who had unloaded raw asbestos. Of the 760 plant workers available, 588 (77%) had been seen once. Of the 157 Manpower workers available, 75 (47.7%) had been seen once. Six-monthly visits included an interview, examination, chest X-rays, sputum tests, breathing tests, and blood and urine tests. Deaths were counted (75 plant, five Manpower workers) without causes. The article reported no findings from the program's own examinations and no cancer diagnoses.

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: Description of a health surveillance and early cancer detection program for former asbestos workers (program report, not a study with outcome results)
• Who was studied: Former employees of an asbestos plant in Tyler: 908 plant workers and 169 temporary Manpower workers identified through November 30, 1976
• Exposure: Work at a plant manufacturing thermal pipe insulation (operated 1954 to 1972), with exposure to high concentrations of amosite asbestos fibers; Manpower workers unloaded raw asbestos fibers in burlap sacks from boxcars and carried them to the plant
• Main results:
  • In 1971 surveys of 62 plant employees (by the East Texas Chest Hospital and NIOSH, before this program began), 18 men had been employed ten years or longer, and 8 of those 18 had findings compatible with an epidemiologic diagnosis of asbestosis
  • Plant workers: 75 known deceased (no causes of death given), 73 lost to follow-up, 760 available for examination
  • Plant workers: 588 (77%) of the 760 available had been seen on one occasion
  • Manpower workers: 5 deceased (no causes of death given), 7 lost to follow-up, 157 available for examination
  • Manpower workers: 75 (47.7%) of the 157 available had been seen on one occasion
  • Workers were given appointments every six months. Each visit included a Standard Health Questionnaire interview, a physical examination, chest roentgenograms, sputum cytopathology, ventilatory function tests, CBC, urinalysis and CEA. Plasma and serum were also frozen and stored for later biological marker studies.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Pipe Covering, Amosite, Chest X-Ray, Sputum.

Browse return to medical research.