Effects of talc dust on respiratory health: results of a longitudinal survey of 378 French and Austrian talc workers.

Objectives: The aim of this longitudinal study was to investigate the effects on respiratory health of talc dust, free of asbestiform fibres, at or below airborne concentrations of 2 mg/m(3).

Methods: The respiratory health and dust exposure of all workers with at least 5 years of employment at two talc producing facilities in France and Austria were surveyed between 1988 and 2003. Standard forced expiratory volumes and standard chest x rays were obtained on repeated occasions and recorded using strict quality control procedures.

Comparative study of photodynamic properties of 13,15-N-cycloimide derivatives of chlorin p6.

Comparative study of 13,15-[N-(2-hydroxyethyl)]cycloimide chlorin p6 (2), 13,15-(N-acetoxy)cycloimide chlorin p6 (3), 13,15-(N-hydroxy)cycloimide chlorin p6 methyl ester (4) and 13,15-(N-methoxy)cycloimide chlorin p6 methyl ester (5) together with the previously investigated 13,15-[N-(3-hydroxypropyl)]cycloimide chlorin p6 (1) was performed. The dependence of the key photodynamic properties of 1-5 on the introduced substituents was analyzed. The photoinduced cell-killing activity of 4 is 100- and 280-fold higher than that of chlorin p6 and Photogem, respectively, as estimated on A549 human lung adenocarcinoma cells.

A cohort mortality and nested case-control study of French and Austrian talc workers.

Objectives: To study whether the mortality from non-malignant and malignant respiratory diseases of workers employed in French and Austrian talc mines and mills is related to their long term occupational exposure.

Methods: Two historical cohorts were set up comprising all male subjects who had been working continuously for at least 1 year in a series of talc producing companies in France and Austria. The French cohort consisted of those employed at a site in the French Pyrenees and working between 1 January 1945 and 31 December 1994.

Survey of the respiratory health of the workers of a talc producing factory.

Objectives: To assess the effect of an occupational exposure to talc dust on respiratory health.

Methods: 166 talc millers from a French factory underwent spirometry and filled in a standardised respiratory questionnaire during their annual medical visit in 1989. A full sized chest radiograph taken in 1987 for the subjects hired before 1982 was also available, for the others a radiograph taken when hired was used.

[Industrial factors in the etiology of obstructive respiratory diseases. Implications for prevention].

The statistics of occupational diseases in industrial medicine, as well as the markedly elevated incidence of chronic bronchitis amongst workers, show that there is an additional respiratory risk linked to industrial environment and the conditions of work. Epidemiological studies in industry and in particular certain occupations, such as mining and the construction industry have led to a better understanding of this industrial risk as a generator of the additional obstructive respiratory disease occurring in exposed workers. Among the unrecognised risks is the prolonged exposure to the oxides of nitrogen which are capable of affecting gas exchange, as has been shown in one of our investigations in the production of nitrogenous fertilizers, which explains the mechanism.