Silicosis in finishing workers in quartz conglomerates processing.

Introduction: Outbreaks of silicosis have bene recently reported in artificial stone workers.

Aim: To describe the features of silicosis in quartz conglomerate workers in North-Eastern Italy.

Methods: Active search of pneumoconiosis was performed in 11 companies of North-Eastern Italy involved in the fabrication of quartz conglomerate countertops.

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.

Mesotheliomas among Italians, returned to the home country, who worked when migrant at a cement-asbestos factory in Switzerland.

Objectives: To report the occurrence of mesotheliomas in Italy among subjects who worked, when migrant, at a cement-asbestos factory in Niederurnen, Switzerland, and had resettled to the home country.

Methods: Information about the disease and on the working history of subjects was collected by regional mesothelioma registries. Only cases diagnosed by means of histo-pathological examinations have been considered here.