Fiber dimension and concentration may vary substantially between two necropsy populations of former chrysotile miners and millers of Thetford-Mines and Asbestos regions. This possibility could explain, at least in part, the higher incidence of respiratory diseases among workers from Thetford-Mines than among workers from the Asbestos region. The authors used a transmission electron microscope, equipped with an x-ray energy-dispersive spectrometer, to analyze lung mineral fibers of 86 subjects from the two mining regions and to classify fiber sizes into three categories. The most consistent difference was the higher concentration of tremolite in lung tissues of workers from Thetford-Mines, compared with workers from the Asbestos region. Amosite and crocidolite were also detected in lung tissues of several workers from the Asbestos region. No consistent and biologically important difference was found for fiber dimension; therefore, fiber dimension does not seem to be a factor that accounts for the difference in incidence of respiratory diseases between the two groups. The greater incidence of respiratory diseases among workers of Thetford-Mines can be explained by the fact that they had greater exposure to fibers than did workers at the Asbestos region. Among the mineral fibers studied, retention of tremolite fibers was most apparent.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00039890109604056 | DOI Listing |
Psychooncology
January 2025
Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
Background: Exposure to asbestos in the workplace is currently recognized as one of the leading causes of work-related deaths, with more than half of deaths attributable to cancer.
Aims: The aim of this systematic literature review was to investigate the mental health and psychological distress of patients affected by asbestos-related diseases and their caregivers.
Methods: The review was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses.
Healthcare (Basel)
December 2024
Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Epidemiology and Hygiene, Italian National Workers' Compensation Authority (INAIL), Via Stefano Gradi 55, 00143 Rome, Italy.
Objectives: Occupational respiratory diseases represent a major public health concern worldwide. This study analyses the hospitalization costs and characteristics of four major occupational respiratory diseases: malignant mesothelioma (MM), sinonasal cancer (SNC), pneumoconiosis (PN), and hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP). The findings are situated within the context of Italy's population trends and healthcare system, offering insights into the economic and clinical burden of these diseases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Epidemiol
December 2024
Univ Rennes, CHU Rennes, Inserm, EHESP, Irset (Institut de recherche en santé, environnement et travail) - UMR_S 1085, F-35000 Rennes, France.
Attributable burden of disease estimates reported population-wide do not reflect social disparities in exposures and outcomes. This makes one of the influential scientific tools in public health decision-making insensitive to the distribution of health impacts between socioeconomic groups. Our aim was to use the often-overlooked distributive property of the population attributable fraction (PAF) to quantitatively partition the population burden attributed to know risk factors into subgroups defined by their socioeconomic position (SEP).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Psychol
December 2024
Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
Occupational and/or environmental exposure to asbestos can lead to clinical manifestation of a variety of diseases, including malignant mesothelioma (MM), a rare cancer with a particularly high incidence rate in areas with a long history of asbestos processing. This paper aims to describe brief psychoanalytic groups (BPGs), which is an intervention model aimed at MM patients and their families in the early stages of the disease, shortly after diagnosis. The BPG model comprises 12 weekly sessions of 1 h each, co-led by two psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapists who are trained in working with cancer patients and their families and in the specifics of the BPG setting.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMed Lav
December 2024
Department of Health Sciences; Course of Research Doctorate in Public Health Sciences, University of Milan, Milan, Italy/Occupational Health Unit, Santi Paolo e Carlo Hospital, Milan, Italy.
The discovery of the detrimental effects of asbestos on human health came long after its widespread use, with the first scientific evidence of asbestos-related diseases emerging in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Despite efforts to ban its use, asbestos continues to be mined and used in Central Asia (as well as in Russia, China, and other countries). To gain a deeper understanding of the situation in Central Asia, we have conducted a systematic review of scientific literature on the use of asbestos, exposure assessment, and health consequences of asbestos exposure in this geographic area.
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