Abstract
The evidence relating to non-occupational exposure to asbestos is too fragmentary to provide any quantitative estimates of risk and we can estimate these only by extrapolation from the observed effects of the larger doses in the asbestos industry. The effects include asbestosis, lung cancer, mesothelioma, and some benign conditions of the pleura that are seldom of lasting importance. It seems likely that asbestos can also cause cancer of the larynx, but the reported excesses of other non-respiratory cancers are probably due to the misdiagnosis of peritoneal mesothelioma and cancer of the lung (7).
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Advisory Committee on Asbestos. (1979) Asbestos: final report of the Advisory Committee, vol 1 (HMSO, London).
Anderson, H.A., Lilis, R., Daum, S.M., Selikoff, I.J. (1979) Asbestosis among household contacts of asbestos factory workers. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 330, 387–399.
Berry, G., Gilson, J.C., Holmes, S., Lewinsohn, H.C., Roach, S.A. (1979) Asbestosis: a study of dose-response relationships in an asbestos textile factory. Brit. J. Industr. Med. 36, 98–112.
Browne, K. (1986) Is asbestos or asbestosis the cause of the increased risk of lung cancer in asbestos workers? Brit. J. Industr. Med. 43, 150–157.
Dement, J.M., Harris, R.C. (1979) Estimates of pulmonary and gastrointestinal deposition for occupational fiber exposures. DHEW (NIOSH) Publication No. 79–135 (US Dept. of Health, Education and Welfare, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, Ohio).
Department of the Environment. (1985) Asbestos materials in buildings (HMSO, London).
Doll, R., Peto, J. (1985) Effects on health of exposure to asbestos. A report to the Health and Safety Commission. (HMSO, London).
International Agency for Research on Cancer. (1977) IARC monographs on the evaluation of carcinogenic risk of chemicals to man. Asbestos, vol 14, (IARC, Lyon).
McDonald, A.D., Fry, J.S., Woolley, A.J., McDonald, J.C. (1983) Dust exposure and mortality in an American chrysotile textile plant. Brit. J. Industr. Med. 40, 361–367.
McDonald, J.C., Liddell, F.D.K., Gibbs, G.W., Eyssen, G.E., McDonald, A.D. (1980) Dust exposure and mortality in chrysotile mining, 1910–75. Brit. J. Industr. Med. 37, 11–24.
Peto, J., Doll, R., Hermon, C., Glayton, R., Goffe, T., Binns, W. (1985) Relationship of mortality to measures of environmental asbestos pollution in an asbestos textile factory. Ann. Occup. Hyg. 29, 305–335.
Peto, J., Seidman, H., Selikoff, I.J. (1982) Mesothelioma mortality in asbestos workers: implications for models of carcinogenesis and risk assessment. Brit. J. Cancer 45, 124–135.
Rood, A.P., Streeter, R.R. (1984) Size distributions of occupational airbourne asbestos textile fibres as determined by transmission electron microscopy. Ann. Occup. Hyg. 28, 333–339.
Royal Commission on Matters of Health and Safety Arising from the Use of Asbestos in Ontario. (1984) Report of the Royal Commission on matters of health and safety arising from the use of asbestos in Ontario, (Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General, Toronto).
Wagner, J.C. (1986) Personal communication.
Walton, W.H. (1982) The nature, hazards and assessment of occupational exposure to airborne asbestos dust: a review. Ann. Occup. Hyg. 25, 117–247.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1987 Birkhäuser Verlag Basel
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Doll, R. (1987). The Quantitative Significance of Asbestos Fibres in the Ambient Air. In: Boehm, G., Leuschner, R.M. (eds) Advances in Aerobiology. Experientia Supplementum, vol 51. Birkhäuser, Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-7491-5_36
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-7491-5_36
Publisher Name: Birkhäuser, Basel
Print ISBN: 978-3-0348-7493-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-0348-7491-5
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive