Potential source of asbestos in non-asbestos textile manufacturing company

• Published in: Environment international Vol. 28; no. 1; pp. 35 - 39
• Main Authors: Yu, Il Je, Choi, Jeong Keun, Kang, Seong-Kyu, Chang, Hee Kyung, Chung, Yong Hyun, Han, Jeong Hee, Song, Kyung Seuk, Lee, Yong Mook, Chung, Ho Keun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Ltd 01.04.2002; Elsevier
• Subjects: Air Pollutants, Occupational - adverse effects; Asbestos; Asbestos, Crocidolite - adverse effects; B-bushing; Biological and medical sciences; Brain Neoplasms - secondary; Chemical and industrial products toxicology. Toxic occupational diseases; Crocidolite; Drilling; Humans; Inorganic dusts (pneumoconiosises) and organic dusts (byssinosis etc.); Lung cancer; Lung Neoplasms - etiology; Lung Neoplasms - pathology; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Non-asbestos textile manufacturing company; Occupational disease; Occupational Diseases - etiology; Occupational Exposure - adverse effects; Textile Industry; Toxicology; Workers' Compensation; Workplace; Non-asbestos textile manufacturing company; Drilling; Asbestos; Occupational disease; Lung cancer; B-bushing; Crocidolite; Human; Work place; Malignant tumor; Occupational exposure; Bronchopulmonary; Machine; Case study; Survey; Indoor pollution; Air pollution; Spinning; Textile industry; Occupational medicine
• ISSN: 0160-4120; 1873-6750
• DOI: 10.1016/S0160-4120(02)00002-8

Recently, a worker with lung carcinoma and a metastatic brain tumor was diagnosed as having a work-related disease. He had been employed in a non-asbestos textile company for 25 years. Consequently, to identify and explore possible causative agents for lung cancer in a non-asbestos textile manufacturing company and establish a causal relationship between exposure and lung cancer, an epidemiological investigative study was conducted and the work processes the worker was engaged in were examined. Air samples were taken from the workplace and during the drilling processes, and a suspected causative material was analyzed. The study revealed that the subject had been employed in the non-asbestos textile manufacturing company for 25 years from 1973 and his responsibilities included repairing spinning machines. In particular, the subject was involved in drilling B-bushings that were used to protect against gear abrasion in the spinning machines. An analysis of the B-bushings using a transmission electron microscope equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray analyzer indicated that they contained crocidolite asbestos fibers. Air samples obtained when drilling the B-bushings clearly indicated that the subject had most likely been exposed to crocidolite fibers when installing the B-bushings in the spinning machines. The frequency and duration of the work suggested that there would be a sufficient degree of exposure to crocidolite fibers to cause lung cancer. Except for smoking and asbestos exposure, no other chemical exposure was suspected for developing lung cancer in the workplace. Smoking appeared to be more of a potentiating risk factor in conjunction with the asbestos exposure. Accordingly, this case may provide significant evidence in identifying the cause of the mesothelioma or lung carcinoma found among workers in non-asbestos textile manufacturing companies elsewhere.