[Proposal of an Italian national protocol of health surveillance for former asbestos workers: an ongoing project].

Objectives: to define an Italian national protocol of post-occupational health surveillance for asbestos workers according to effectiveness, appropriateness, saving, and social utility.

Design: data for 1,071 former asbestos workers from several Italian Regions were collected and analysed. For these workers, a retrospective estimate of asbestos exposure was carried out.

Lung cancer risk in past asbestos workers a few decades after exposure cessation and prospects for screening.

To ascertain whether the current risk of lung cancer in former asbestos workers was higher than in the general population, 1,557 past asbestos workers were recruited during statutory health examinations (from 2000 onward) and followed up for mortality. Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) were calculated. Poisson regression was used to adjust the rate ratios (RRs) for confounders.

Osteopontin, asbestos exposure and pleural plaques: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Osteopontin (OPN) is a plasma protein/cytokine produced in excess in several malignancies. In a recent study OPN was reported as being related to the duration of asbestos exposure and presence of benign asbestos-related diseases; however, it was unclear whether this protein was an indicator of exposure or effect.

Methods: In 193 workers, 50 with pleural plaques (PP), in whom different indicators of past asbestos exposure were estimated, OPN plasma levels were assessed using commercial quantitative sandwich enzyme immunoassays according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Maternal exposures and risk of spontaneous abortion before and after a community oriented health education campaign.

Background: In a district of Veneto (North-east Italy) where numerous females of childbearing age were occupationally exposed to organic solvents in nearly 400 shoe factories, a case-control study found significant associations between maternal exposures (from occupation and risky behavior) and spontaneous abortion (SAB). Thereafter, a health education campaign was undertaken to increase awareness of risk factors for pregnancy in the population. To evaluate the effects of this campaign maternal exposures and SAB risks were compared before and after the campaign.

Asbestos exposure and benign asbestos diseases in 772 formerly exposed workers: dose-response relationships.

Background: Since previous studies have provided conflicting results, we investigated the relationship between the risk of benign asbestos-related diseases and different aspects of asbestos exposure in previous asbestos workers who underwent low-dose computed tomography (CT).

Methods: CT scans were carried out in 772 subjects. A questionnaire was employed to collect data on smoking habits and duration, peak and cumulative exposure, and time since first exposure to asbestos.

[Geographical analysis of mortality in a municipality of the Veneto region, where a landfill is located, and the surrounding area. Years 1995-2003].

Objective: the study explores whether a potential source of environmental pollution (a dumping ground with different kinds of waste, in Spinea, an area adjacent to Venice, population 25,000) could have led to an excess of mortality from certain pathologies, and in particular some cancers which have been reported to be associated to the presence of dumping grounds. Besides traditional estimation techniques, Bayesian estimators (BMR) have been used, which--if based on appropriate statistical analysis techniques--allow to consider the spatial dependence of the data. The smoothed geographical distribution of mortality in the area surrounding the pollution source is then represented as a map and the presence of particular mortality patterns is verified.

Feasibility of a screening programme for lung cancer in former asbestos workers.

Background: Low-dose computed tomography (CT) has been found to detect more Stage IA lung cancer than chest x-ray.

Aims: To investigate whether lung cancer screening with CT was effective and acceptable in former asbestos workers.

Methods: CT scanning was carried out following the protocol previously described in the literature.

Increased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma and liver cirrhosis in vinyl chloride workers: synergistic effect of occupational exposure with alcohol intake.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and liver cirrhosis (LC) are not well-established vinyl chloride monomer (VCM)-induced diseases. Our aim was to appraise the role of VCM, alcohol intake, and viral hepatitis infection, and their interactions, in the etiology of HCC and LC. Thirteen cases of HCC and 40 cases of LC were separately compared with 139 referents without chronic liver diseases or cancer in a case-referent study nested in a cohort of 1,658 VCM workers.