Asbestos body

Auerbach, O., Conston, A.S., Garfinkel, L., Parks, V.R., Kaslow, H.D. and Hammond, E.C. (1980). Presence of asbestos bodies in organs other than the lung. Chest 77, 133-137. 

Pooley, F.D. (1972). Asbestos bodies, their formation, composition and character. Environ. Res. 5, 363-379. 

Churg, A. and M. L. Wamock (1977). Correlation of quantitative asbestos body counts and occupation in urban patients. Arch. Patrol. Lab Med. 101 624-634. 

Mesothelioma A minor of the mesothelium of the pleura, pericardium or peritoneum, arising as a result of the presence of asbestos bodies. A locally malignant spreading tumor diagnostic of exposure to asbestos. 

Analyses of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid samples or sputum samples can directly reflect alveolar concentrations of retained fibers and, although they do not reflect the proportion of deposited fibers that may move to the interstitium (Case 1994 Pinkerton et al. 1984), can provide information regarding past exposure to asbestos, especially to amphibole fibers. Obtaining sputum samples is much less invasive than obtaining bronchoalveolar lavage samples. In Libby, Montana vermiculite miners and millers exposed to fibrous tremolite, counts of asbestos bodies in sputum samples closely reflected intensity and duration of past exposure (Sebastien et al. 1988b), but asbestos body counts in sputum samples from volunteers from other cohorts of workers exposed to asbestos (predominately chrysotile or lower levels of amphibole fibers than in Libby) did not reliably reflect past levels of exposure (McDonald et al. 1988, 1992). 

The geometric mean asbestos body and crocidolite fiber content in 90 former workers in the Wittenoon crocodiolite industry in Western Australia were 17.5 asbestos bodies/g wet tissue and 183 TEM 17p,g dry tissue, respectively (de Klerk et al. 1996). The geometric mean intensity of exposure, duration of exposure, and cumulative exposure were 20 fimL, 395 days, and 20.9 f-5T/mL, respectively. The fiber concentration in the lung was correlated to the intensity and duration of exposure. 

Exposures of Children. Only a few small studies have assessed the lung asbestos fiber content of children (Case et al. 1988, 1994). Preliminary results from the most comprehensive of these studies indicate that asbestos bodies and lung fiber concentrations in children are one to two orders of magnitude lower than those found in adults. More data are needed on the levels of asbestos in children, and attempts should be made when these data are acquired to link the body burden with possible sources of exposure (e.g., residing in places with naturally elevated soil concentrations, in areas with mining or hazardous waste sites, or in housing with crumbling asbestos). 

Albin M, Johansson L, Pooley FD, et al. 1990b. Mineral fibres, fibrosis, and asbestos bodies in lung tissue from deceased asbestos cement workers. Br J Ind Med 47 767-774. 

Alderisio M, Giovagnoli MR, Cenci M, et al. 1996. Asbestos bodies in the sputum of workers exposed to environmental pollution. Anticancer Res 16 2965-2968. 

Case BW, Oliver LC. 1992. Asbestos bodies are absent from sputum of school custodial workers [Abstract]. Am Rev RespirDis 145 332. 

Case BW, Monaghan LA, Giguere M. 1991. Sputum asbestos bodies in female residents of two chrysotile mining towns [Abstract]. Am Rev Respir Dis 143 266. 

De Vuyst P, Dumortier P, Gevenois PA. 1997. Analysis of asbestos bodies in BAL from subjects with particular exposure. Am J Ind Med 31 699-704. 

De Vuyst P, Dumortier P, Moulin E, et al. 1988. Asbestos bodies in bronchoalveolar lavage reflect lung asbestos body concentration. Eur Resp J 1 362-367. 

Govema M, Amati M, Fontana S, et al. 1999. Role of iron in asbestos-body-induced oxidant radical generation. J Toxicol Environ Health A 58 279-287. 

Gylseth B, Churg A, Davis JM, et al. 1985. Analysis of asbestos fibers and asbestos bodies in tissue samples from human lung An international interlaboratory trial. Scand J Work Environ Health 11 107-110. 

Haque AK, Kanz, MF. 1988. Asbestos bodies in children s lungs. Arch Pathol Lab Med 112 514-518. 

Hiraoka K, Horie A, Kido M. 1990. Study of asbestos bodies in Japanese urban patients. Am J Ind Med 18 547-554. 

Katjalainen A, Nurminen M, Vanhala E, et al. 1996a. Pulmonary asbestos bodies and asbestos fibers as indicators of exposure. Scand J Work Environ Health 22 34-38. 

Katjalainen A, Piipari R, Mantyla T, et al. 1996b. Asbestos bodies in bronchoalveolar lavage in relation to asbestos bodies and asbestos fibres in lung parenchyma. Eur Resp J 9 1000-1005. 

Kishimoto T, Ono T, Okada K, et al. 1989. Relationship between number of asbestos bodies in autopsy lung and pleural plaques on chest x-ray film. Chest 95 549-552. 

Koerten HK, de Bmijn JD, Daems WT. 1990a. The formation of asbestos bodies by mouse peritoneal macrophages. Am J Pathol 137 121-134. 

Koerten HK, Hazekamp J, Kroon M. et al. 1990b. Asbestos body formation and iron accumulation in mouse peritoneal granulomas after the introduction of crocidolite asbestos fibers. Am J Pathol 136 141-157. 

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