Fatal Asbestosis 50 Years After Brief High Intensity Exposure in a Vermiculite Expansion Plant

Details

• Personal Author:
  Abraham JL ; Burnett BR ; Harber P ; Morris P ; West P ; Wright RS
• Description:
  The authors report the case of a 65-year-old accountant whose only asbestos exposure was during a summer job 50 years earlier in a California vermiculite expansion plant. Vermiculite is a silicate material that is useful in building and agriculture as a filler and insulating agent. He developed extensive fibrocalcific pleural plaques and end-stage pulmonary fibrosis, with rapidly progressive respiratory failure. Careful occupational and environmental history revealed no other source of asbestos exposure, and the initial clinical diagnosis was idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis; open lung biopsy shortly before his death confirmed asbestosis. Electron microscopic lung fiber burden analysis revealed over 8,000,000 asbestos fibers per gram dry lung, 68% of which were tremolite asbestos. Additional asbestiform fibers of composition not matching any of the standard asbestos varieties were also present at over 5,000,000 fibers per gram dry lung. Comparison analysis of a sample of Libby, Montana, vermiculite showed a similar mix of asbestiform fibers including tremolite asbestos. This case analysis raises several concerns: risks of vermiculite induced disease among former workers of the more than 200 expansion plants throughout the United States; health effects of brief but very high-intensity exposures to asbestos; and possible health effects in end-users of consumer products containing vermiculite. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Asbestos Inorganic Chemicals Lung Lung Diseases Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety
• Keywords:
  Asbestosis Asbestos Products Author Keywords: Asbestosis Electron Microscopy Health Effects Lung Fibrosis Occupational Exposure Pulmonary Disorders Pulmonary Effects Respiratory Failure Tremolite Vermiculite

  More +
• ISSN:
  1073-449X
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; New York ; OSHA Region 2 ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  165
• Issue:
  8
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20058258
• Citation:
  Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2002 Apr; 165(8):1145-1149
• Contact Point Address:
  Robert S. Wright, Sansu-Santa Barbara Medical Foundation Clinic, Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine, P.O. Box 1200, Santa Barbara, CA 93102-1200
• Email:
  rwright@sansum.com
• CAS Registry Number:
  Asbestos (CAS RN 1332-21-4)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2002
• Performing Organization:
  University of California, School of Public Health, Los Angeles, California
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  19990701
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine
• End Date:
  20040630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a7feaca2618a21d620ab1826e3c14f871e4507fffc71d97d82e569f0bec69934afa91346126724746c3f957aa3fb7052e3efb7c09f143ef83e4e0da25bc853e6
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/221388/cdc_221388_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 270.99 KB ]