Insulation workers

Seidman, H., Selikoff, l.J. and Hammond, E.C. (1982). Mortality of brain tumours among asbestos insulation workers in the United States and Canada. Ann. N. York Acad. Sci. 381, 160-171. 

Asbestos Lung, pleura Insulation workers, miners, construction and shipyards... 

Using a predictive model developed from mesothelioma data from studies of asbestos insulation workers (Peto et al. 1982), asbestos textile workers (Peto 1980), amosite factory workers (Seidman 1984), and asbestos-cement workers (Finkelstein 1983), EPA (1986a) estimated that continuous lifetime exposure to air containing 0.0001 f/mL of asbestos would result in about 2-3 cases of mesothelioma per 100,000 persons. The corresponding cumulative lifetime exposures associated with excess risks of 10 " -10 are shown in Figure 3-1. Cumulative exposure levels of 0.031, 0.0031, 0.00031, and 0.000031 f-yr/mL represent excess mesothelioma risks of 10" , 10 , 10, and 10 ", respectively. Appendix D provides further details on the derivation of these risk estimates. Currently (in 2001), EPA is in the process of reviewing their cancer risk estimates for asbestos fibers. 

Cancer at Other Sites. Mortality studies of asbestos workers have revealed small increases in the incidence of death from cancer at one or more sites other than the lung, the pleura, or the peritoneirm, mostly in tissues of the gastrointestinal system. For example, a total of 99 deaths from cancers of the esophagus, stomach, colon, or rectum were observed in a cohort of 17,800 insulation workers, while only... 

Fischbein A, Luo J-C, Pinkston GR. 1991a. Asbestosis, laryngeal carcinoma, and malignant peritoneal mesothelioma in an insulation worker. Br J Ind Med 48(5) 338-341. 

Jarvholm B, Sanden A. 1998. Lung cancer and mesothelioma in the pleura and peritoneum among Swedish insulation workers. Occup Environ Med 55 766-770. 

Morgan A, Holmes A. 1983. Distribution and characteristics of amphibole asbestos fibres, measured with the light microscope, in the left lung of an insulation worker. Br J Ind Med 40 45-50. 

Ribak J, Lilis R, Suzuki Y, et al. 1988. Malignant mesothelioma in a cohort of asbestos insulation workers Clinical presentation, diagnosis, and causes of death. Br J Ind Med 45 182-187. 

Selikoff IJ. 1965. The occurrence of pleural calcification among asbestos insulation workers. Ann NY Acad Sci 132 351-367. 

Selikoff IJ, Hammond EC, Seidman H. 1979. Mortality experience of insulation workers in the United States and Canada, 1943-1976. Ann NY Acad Sci 330 91-116. 

Asbestos may be released to indoor or outdoor air as a result of the disturbance of asbestos-containing building materials such as insulation, fire-proofing material, dry wall, and ceiling and floor tile. Amphibole asbestos has been found in some sources of vermiculite that has been used as home and building insulation. Workers or homeowners involved in demolition work or asbestos... 

Asbestosis incidence in U.S. insulation workers was reported as early as 1934 - in the British Journal of Radiology. 

A 1945 edition of the Journal of Industrial Hygiene reporting on the first large scale survey of asbestos insulation workers which concluded that Navy shipyard workers involved in the asbestos covering of vessels was a relatively safe operation . That study was criticized, however, because of the relatively short exposure time experienced by the survey workers. 

In 1965, the Annals of the New York Academy of Science published a study of 1,522 New York insulation workers in which almost half of the men examined had evidence of pulmonary asbestosis, and where at least 90% of those with forty years of exposure had abnormalities. 

People living or working in hot environments may experience heat illnesses. Often employers have ways to manage the work, the work schedule and sometimes the environmental conditions. Employers may also provide special clothing that insulates workers or provides cooling. 

Niinim i A, Hassi J (1983) An outbreak of epoxy dermatitis in insulation workers at an electric power station. Dermatosen... 

Selikoff IJ, Hammond EC, Seidman H (1980) Latency of asbestos disease among insulation workers in the United States and Canada. Cancer 46 2736-2740 Sheers G, Rossiter CE, Gilson JC et al (1978) U.K. naval dockyards asbestos study radiological methods in the surveillance of workers exposed to asbestos. Br J Ind Med 35 195-203... 

Kipen HM, Lilis R, Suzuki Y, Valciukas JA, Selikoff IJ (1987) Pulmonary fibrosis in asbestos insulation workers with lung cancer a radiological and histopathological evaluation. Br J Ind Med 44 96-100... 

---