[Health risks due to the presence of asbestos in cosmetic talcs. An Italian story].

The presence of asbestos in cosmetic talc has been reported in the United States since the 1970s. The present article first retraces the Italian case, then focuses on technical features as well as the relevant laws, rules, and regulations, ending with a precautionary evidence-based approach. Research was mainly aimed at retrieving official Italian Health Authority papers on the tests carried out several decades ago, to identify the presence of any asbestos in talc of products for sale.

Asbestos exposure and asbestosis mortality in Italian cement-asbestos cohorts: Dose-response relationship and the role of competing death causes.

Objectives: In Italy, asbestos was used intensively until its ban in 1992, which was extended for asbestos cement factories until 1994. The aim of this study was to evaluate the dose-response between asbestos exposure and asbestosis mortality across a pool of Italian occupational cohorts, taking into account the presence of competing risks.

Methods: Cohorts were followed for vital status and the cause of death was ascertained by a linkage with mortality registers.

There is plenty of asbestos at the bottom. The case of magnesite raw material contaminated with asbestos fibres.

Although all six asbestos minerals (the layer silicate chrysotile and five chain silicate species actinolite asbestos, amosite, anthophyllite asbestos, crocidolite and tremolite asbestos) are classified as carcinogenic, chrysotile is still mined and used in many countries worldwide. Other countries, like Italy, impose zero tolerance for all asbestos species, but conflicting views repress the development of globally uniform treaties controlling international trade of asbestos-containing materials. Hence, countries with more severe legislations against the use of these hazardous materials lack of an international safety net against importation of non-compliant products.

Rate advancement measurement for lung cancer and pleural mesothelioma in asbestos-exposed workers.

Introduction: Exposure to asbestos increases the risk of lung cancer and mesothelioma. Few studies quantified the premature occurrence of these diseases in asbestos-exposed workers. Focus on premature disease onset (rate advancement or acceleration) can be useful in risk communication and for the evaluation of exposure impact.

Round-Robin Tests with Relocatable Coverslips Improve Asbestos Fibre Counting.

Asbestos fibre counting by phase-contrast microscope is subject to many sources of variation, including those dependent on the analyst. In this study, asbestos sample slides prepared with relocatable coverslips have been used for fibre counting among voluntary analysts to evaluate their proficiency. One slide of amosite and one of chrysotile were distributed to all the analysts, and three proficiency testing rounds were conducted for amosite and four for chrysotile.

Italian pool of asbestos workers cohorts: asbestos related mortality by industrial sector and cumulative exposure.

Objective: Italy has been a large user of asbestos and asbestos containing materials until the 1992 ban. We present a pooled cohort study on long-term mortality in exposed workers.

Methods: Pool of 43 Italian asbestos cohorts (asbestos cement, rolling stock, shipbuilding, glasswork, harbors, insulation and other industries).

[About the asbestos and the Position Paper on asbestos of the Italian Society of Occupational Medicine].

The SIML Position Paper dedicated to asbestos (PPA) is addressed (mainly) to competent practitioners (CP) for the purposes to provide a guidance about a set of items classified as markedly interesting: the actuality of asbestos exposure and the evaluation of the related risk; the diagnosis of the asbestos related diseases; the shape of the risk functions (namely about mesotheliomas); the causal relationship between exposure and disease; the medical surveillance of the workers currently and previously exposed. The scientific literature doesn't acknowledge the idea that nowadays in Italy the frequency of pleural mesotheliomas deriving from environmental asbestos from outdoor sources exposures is really a relevant item. Inside the SIML PPA the chapter concerning industrial hygiene and environmental monitoring themes shows inaccuracies and deficiencies, so resulting of scarce utility for the CPs that should be called for a more cooperative role in front of the employers.

Factors Affecting Asbestosis Mortality Among Asbestos-Cement Workers in Italy.

Objectives: This study was performed with the aim of investigating the temporal patterns and determinants associated with mortality from asbestosis among 21 cohorts of Asbestos-Cement (AC) workers who were heavily exposed to asbestos fibres.

Methods: Mortality for asbestosis was analysed for a cohort of 13 076 Italian AC workers (18.1% women).

Role of asbestos clearance in explaining long-term risk of pleural and peritoneal cancer: a pooled analysis of cohort studies.

Objectives: Models based on the multistage theory of cancer predict that rates of malignant mesothelioma continuously increase with time since first exposure (TSFE) to asbestos, even after the end of external exposure. However, recent epidemiological studies suggest that mesothelioma rates level off many years after first exposure to asbestos. A gradual clearance of asbestos from the lungs has been suggested as a possible explanation for this phenomenon.

Cumulative asbestos exposure and mortality from asbestos related diseases in a pooled analysis of 21 asbestos cement cohorts in Italy.

Background: Despite the available information on cancer risk, asbestos is used in large areas in the world, mostly in the production of asbestos cement. Moreover, questions are raised regarding the shape of the dose response relation, the relation with time since exposure and the association with neoplasms in various organs. We conducted a study on the relationship between cumulative asbestos exposure and mortality from asbestos related diseases in a large Italian pool of 21 cohorts of asbestos-cement workers with protracted exposure to both chrysotile and amphibole asbestos.

Assessment of the potential hazard represented by natural raw materials containing mineral fibres-The case of the feldspar from Orani, Sardinia (Italy).

This work describes the nature of the potentially hazardous fibrous amphibole found in the Orani's feldspar mine (Sardinia, Italy). To identify its nature, a protocol of analysis including morphometric, chemical and crystallographic characterizations was applied. Thanks to this approach, it was possible to classify the observed fibres as tremolite after comparing chemical data, SEM/TEM observations, FTIR/ Raman spectra and X-ray diffraction data with those reported for a standard sample.

Italian pool of asbestos workers cohorts: mortality trends of asbestos-related neoplasms after long time since first exposure.

Objective: Asbestos is a known human carcinogen, with evidence for malignant mesothelioma (MM), cancers of lung, ovary, larynx and possibly other organs. MM rates are predicted to increase with a power of time since first exposure (TSFE), but the possible long-term attenuation of the trend is debated. The asbestos ban enforced in Italy in 1992 gives an opportunity to measure long-term cancer risk in formerly exposed workers.

Survey on Urinary Levels of Aflatoxins in Professionally Exposed Workers.

Feed mill workers may handle or process maize contaminated with aflatoxins (AFs). This condition may lead to an unacceptable intake of toxins deriving from occupational exposure. This study assessed the serological and urinary levels of AFs in workers exposed to potentially contaminated dusts in two mills.

[Time trend in mesothelioma and lung cancer risk in asbestos workers in Italy].

This study aims at investigating, in asbestos exposed workers, the time trend of their risk of mesothelioma and of other neoplasm after very long latency and after the cessation of asbestos exposure. We pooled a large number of Italian cohorts of asbestos workers and updated mortality follow-up. The pool of data for statistical analyses includes 51,988 workers, of which 6,058 women: 54.