Abstract
This paper first summarises the data from the US and European epidemiological studies upon which many claims about the carcinogenicity of insulation wools (rock wool, slag wool, and glass wool) have been made. Emphasis has been given to the conclusions of the researchers rather than the conclusions of reviewers who have pooled the data from both continents. The results of the most recently published epidemiological study of crocidolite miners and millers (the Wittenoom cohort) have then been summarised and compared with the man-made mineral fibre studies.
In doing this, it is demonstrated that some of the statements in the past about the comparative toxicity of insulation wools and asbestos have been nonsensical. It is also demonstrated that the US and European historical cohort studies contain too many unknowns to sort out the precise reasons for the elevated lung cancer SMRs in those cohorts.
Reasons are given for the need for further research. It is recommended that future research be based on a large (minimum 5000 persons) prospective cohort for which essential personal, employment, radiographic, environmental and smoking data are available. The cohort must include people engaged in both the manufacture and use of insulation wools. Analyses of incidence and mortality data, using logistic regression and person-years techniques, would be carried out at five-yearly intervals. It is further recommended that case-referent and other studies using state of the art methods be nested within the main cohort.
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© 1991 Plenum Press, New York
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Douglas, D. (1991). Health Effects of Insulation Wools (Rock/Slag Wool and Glass Wool) and Future Research Needs. In: Brown, R.C., Hoskins, J.A., Johnson, N.F. (eds) Mechanisms in Fibre Carcinogenesis. NATO ASI Series, vol 223. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-1363-2_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-1363-2_2
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