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
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.