Evaluation of Take Home (Para-Occupational) Exposure to Asbestos and Disease: A Review of the Literature

Details

• Personal Author:
  Cowan DM ; Donovan BL ; Donovan EP ; McKinley MA ; Paustenbach DJ
• Description:
  The potential for para-occupational (or "take-home") exposure to a number of chemicals has been recognized for over 60 years. We conducted a literature review in order to characterize reported cases of asbestos-related disease among household contacts of workers occupationally exposed to asbestos. Over 200 published articles were evaluated. Nearly 60 articles described cases of asbestos-related disease thought to be caused by para-occupational exposure. Over 65% of these cases were in persons who lived with workers classified as miners, shipyard workers, insulators, or others involved in the manufacturing of asbestos-containing products, with nearly all remaining workers identified as craftsmen. 98% of the available lung samples of the persons with diseases indicated the presence of amphibole asbestos. Eight studies provided airborne asbestos concentrations during (i) handling of clothing contaminated with asbestos during insulation work or simulated use of friction products; (ii) ambient conditions in the homes of asbestos miners; and (iii) wearing previously contaminated clothing. This review indicates that the literature is dominated by case reports, the majority of which involved household contacts of workers in industries characterized, generally, by high exposures to amphiboles or mixed mineral types. The available data do not implicate chrysotile as a significant cause of disease for household contacts. Also, our analysis indicates that there is insufficient information in the published literature that would allow one to relate airborne asbestos concentrations in a workplace to those that would be generated from subsequent handling of contact with clothing that had been contaminated in that environment. Ideally, a simulation study could be conducted in the future to better understand the relationships between the airborne concentrations in the workplace and the fiber characteristics that influence retention on fabric, as well as the concentrations that can be generated by handling the contaminated clothing by the persons in the home. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Asbestos Dust Inorganic Chemicals Lung Diseases Occupational Health Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety
• Keywords:
  Airborne Particles Air Contamination Asbestos Dust Asbestos Fibers Asbestos Workers Author Keywords: Asbestos Clothing Exposure Methods Fabrics Family Fiber Transport Lung Disease Para-occupational Exposure Take-home Exposure Take-home Toxins

  More +
• ISSN:
  1040-8444
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  42
• Issue:
  9
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20053699
• Citation:
  Crit Rev Toxicol 2012 Oct; 42(9):703-731
• Contact Point Address:
  Ellen P. Donovan, ChemRisk LLC, 101 2nd Street, Suite 700, San Francisco, CA 94105, USA
• Email:
  edonovan@chemrisk.com
• CAS Registry Number:
  Chrysotile (CAS RN 12001-29-5)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• Performing Organization:
  University of California, Berkeley
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Critical Reviews in Toxicology
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:4d49d3a66e7dddd7c90af66771362dda752666b8ad74571c66acd47cd623e8230ef4fd08845d54f2ee0ab0c05afbf38d9967dc51b8c3f42e0454231043395e40
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/216412/cdc_216412_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 960.20 KB ]