Asbestos Fiber Content of the Lungs in Patients With and Without Asbestos Airways Disease1–3

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
I analyzed the total pulmonary asbestos burden in the lungs of 9 chrysotile miners who had asbestos airways disease (so-called "early asbestosis") but no evidence of classic asbestosis (interstitial fibrosis) on pathologic examination. The results were compared with values found for 9 miners matched for age, sex, smoking, and work length who had no histologic evidence of asbestosis or asbestos airways disease. The mean value for chrysotile fibers in the airway disease group was 47 × l06/g dried lung, compared with 23 × 106 in the group without lesions (p < 0.04). For contaminant amphiboles, probably derived from the chrysotile ore (tremolite, actinolite, anthophyllite), the corresponding values were 106 × 106 versus 58 × 106 (p < 0.06), and for total asbestos fibers, 153 × 106 versus 81 × 106 (p < 0.06). There was a strong correlation between amount of chrysotile and amphibole for each case, suggesting that the amphibole was probably a good measure of the original (but no longer present) chrysotile burden. No differences were seen between the 2 groups with regard to fiber size distribution, aspect ratios, or fiber widths. I conclude that the overall differences in fiber concentration between the 2 groups, although significant, are sufficiently small enough to suggest that other factors may be involved in the genesis of small airway lesions.