Malignant

Abstract

V. Occupational asbestos exposure, lung-fiber con- centration and latency time in malignant mesothelioma. Scand J Work Environ Health 10 (1984) 293-298. Mineral fiber concentration in lung tissue was analyled by scanning electron microscopy in 73 males with malignant mesothelioma and in 36 referents who died of cardio- or cerebrovascular diseases. The investigation showed apparent differences in the median lung-fiber concentration between oc- cupational groups with different levels of asbestos exposure, as judged from their occupational history. Thus the mineral fiber content in human lung tissue provides a useful indicator of cumulative asbestos exposure. There was also a statistically significant difference between the median lung-fiber concentration among mesothelioma cases with unlikely or unknown occupational asbestos exposure and the ref- erence group. The latency times in 42 of the cases with definite or probable occupational asbestos exposure showed a log-normal distribution with a median of 37 years and a range of 19-68 years. No statistically significant correlation was found between the logarithm of the latency time and the logarithm of the lung-fiber concentration.