Asbestos body burden in decomposed human lungs

The authors discuss the influence of postmortem tissue decomposition on the lung asbestos body (AB) burden, with the aim of evaluating the reliability of data obtained from autopsies performed for medicolegal purposes several months after deaths in possible connection with asbestos-related pathology . Eight autopsy cases were selected, each one with occupational exposure co nsidered very probable on the basis of the history or pathologic findings. In each case the AB concentrations were assessed soon after death in one lu ng and after periods of 1 to 18 months in the others, which had been stored in sealed containers without fixation. AB concentrations consistently decr eased with time in rotten lungs. The counts in some cases became negative a few months after death, even in cases with very high AB counts at first ex amination. It may be reasonably inferred that, in putrefied lungs from corp ses exhumed after months of interment, the counts in digested tissues and t he screening of histologic sections for AB may give false-negative results.