ASBESTOS BODIES IN NORMAL LUNG OF WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN POPULATIONS WITH NO OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE TO INORGANIC DUST

Citation
E. Monso et al., ASBESTOS BODIES IN NORMAL LUNG OF WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN POPULATIONS WITH NO OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE TO INORGANIC DUST, Archives of environmental health, 50(4), 1995, pp. 305-311
Citations number
55
Categorie Soggetti
Public, Environmental & Occupation Heath","Environmental Sciences
ISSN journal
00039896
Volume
50
Issue
4
Year of publication
1995
Pages
305 - 311
Database
ISI
SICI code
0003-9896(1995)50:4<305:ABINLO>2.0.ZU;2-J
Abstract
The aim of this study was to determine the following: (a) asbestos bod y count in lung tissue of different western Mediterranean populations; (b) the association, if any, of urban industrial residence with highe r lung tissue asbestos body counts in this geographical area; and (c) the risk factor that environmental asbestos exposure posed for lung ca ncer in our population. Lung-tissue samples were studied in three grou ps of subjects from the general population: (1) group A comprised 18 p atients from Barcelona's urban industrial area (mean age = 62.2 y, sta ndard deviation [SD] = 13.6); (2) group B comprised 16 patients who li ved in a rural area of Albacete in the south of Spain (mean age = 62.2 y, SD = 13.7); and (3) group C comprised 8 patients who had been diag nosed with lung cancer, who lived in or near Barcelona, and who had ne ver been exposed occupationally to asbestos (mean age = 62.1 y, SD = 7 .4). A wet lung/dry lung weight ratio was determined. In group A, asbe stos bodies were observed in 9 of 18 (50%) subjects, and asbestos bodi es numbered 52.35 per g dry lung (SD = 101.72) (upper limit of normali ty [higher value] = 430.12 asbestos bodies per g dry lung). In group B , asbestos bodies were observed in 2 of 16 (12.5%) subjects, and asbes tos bodies numbered 5.37 per g dry lung (SD = 8.79) (upper limit norma lity = 35.15 asbestos bodies per g dry lung). In group C, we observed asbestos bodies in 2 of 8 subjects (25.0%), and asbestos bodies number ed 20.59 per g dry weight (SD = 24.10). Comparison between groups A an d B indicated small differences in the prevalence of asbestos bodies ( i.e., Barcelona 50%, Albacete 12.5%; p = .057 [chi-square test]), as w ell as small differences in asbestos body counts (i.e., asbestos bodie s per g dry lung; Mann-Whitney U-test, p < .001). The results of these comparisons evidenced a higher exposure to asbestos in the urban indu strial environment. No statistically significant differences were foun d between groups A and C (chi-square test/Mann-Whitney U-test: p > .05 ). We concluded that, in western Mediterranean populations, normal lun g asbestos body counts were higher in urban industrial inhabitants tha n in rural inhabitants; however, in both populations, there was a low prevalence of asbestos bodies. Our results did not suggest that enviro nmental exposure to asbestos played a role in the pathogenesis of lung cancer in subjects who had never been exposed occupationally to asbes tos and who had lived in western Mediterranean areas.