Inorganic Fiber Lung Burden in Subjects with Occupational and/or Anthropogenic Environmental Asbestos Exposure in Broni (Pavia, Northern Italy): An SEM-EDS Study on Autoptic Samples
Open Access
- 19 February 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by MDPI AG in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
- Vol. 18 (4), 2053
- https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18042053
Abstract
Increased mortality due to malignant mesothelioma has been demonstrated by several epidemiologic studies in the area around Broni (a small town in Lombardy, northern Italy), where a factory producing asbestos cement was active between 1932 and 1993. Until now, the inorganic fiber burden in lungs has not been investigated in this population. The aim of this study is to assess the lung fiber burden in 72 individuals with previous occupational and/or anthropogenic environmental exposure to asbestos during the activity of an important asbestos cement factory. Inorganic fiber lung burden was assessed in autoptic samples taken from individuals deceased from asbestos-related diseases using a scanning electron microscope equipped with an energy-dispersive spectrometer. Significant differences in the detected amount of asbestos were pointed out among the three types of exposure. In most lung samples taken from patients who died of mesothelioma, very little asbestos (or, in some cases, no fibers) was found. Such subjects showed a significantly lower median amount of asbestos as compared to asbestosis. Almost no chrysotile was detected in the examined samples. Overall, crocidolite was the most represented asbestos, followed by amosite, tremolite/actinolite asbestos, and anthophyllite asbestos. There were significant differences in the amount of crocidolite and amosite fibers according to the kind of exposure. Overall, these findings provide novel insights into the link between asbestos exposure and mesothelioma, as well as the different impacts of the various types of asbestos on human health in relation to their different biopersistences in the lung microenvironment.This publication has 55 references indexed in Scilit:
- Health risk of chrysotile revisitedCritical Reviews in Toxicology, 2013
- Modeling Mesothelioma Risk Associated with Environmental Asbestos ExposureEnvironmental Health Perspectives, 2007
- Assessment of Inorganic Fibre Burden in Biological Samples by Scanning Electron Microscopy – Energy Dispersive SpectroscopyMicrochimica Acta, 2006
- Guidelines for mineral fibre analyses in biological samples: report of the ERS Working Group. European Respiratory SocietyEuropean Respiratory Journal, 1998
- DEPOSITION AND CLEARANCE OF CHRYSOTILE ASBESTOS*The Annals of Occupational Hygiene, 1994
- MACROPHAGE-ASSOCIATED RESPONSES TO CHRYSOTILEAnnals of Occupational Hygiene, 1994
- Asbestos fiber type in malignant Mesothelioma: An analytical scanning electron microscopic study of 94 casesAmerican Journal of Industrial Medicine, 1993
- Electron microscopy analysis of mineral fibers in human lung tissueAmerican Journal of Industrial Medicine, 1992
- Clearance of Chrysotile Asbestos from Human LungExperimental Lung Research, 1988
- Concentrations and dimensions of coated and uncoated asbestos fibres in the human lung.Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 1980