Asbestos Fiber Dimensions and Lung Cancer Mortality
A study published last week in Occupational and Environmental Medicine estimated exposures to asbestos fibers of specific sizes of workers exposed to chrysotile using data from transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and investigated the extent to which the risk of lung cancer varies with fiber length and diameter. The study used a cohort of 3803 workers that were employed from January of 1950 and December of 1973 in manufacturing asbestos textile products. Workers’ exposures to asbestos fibers were estimated from work histories and over 3500 industrial hygiene measurements.
Fiber length and diameter were significantly associated with an increasing risk of lung cancer. Exposures to longer and thinner fibers tended to be most strongly associated with lung cancer. The results supported the investigators hypothesis that the risk of lung cancer among workers exposed to chrysotile asbestos increases with exposure to longer fibers.
