Document BvQO2EnmZG2j6RzM407kqaeMm

MELLON ?NST!TUTE LIBRARY FE3 ID 1967 PITTSBURGH, PA. Industrial Hygiene INDUSTISIAL HEALTH NEWS ;| LITERATURE ABSTRACTS MEDICAL ENGINEERING CHEMICAL TOXICOLOGICAL LEGAL JANUARY, 1967/ (Vol 31, No. 1)' u M iJt t<. i iwftWi >i * * * ** INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE FOUNDATION MELLON INSTITUTE 4400 FIFTH AVENUE PITTSBURGH, PA. IS213 PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBIT CHR-309 f iiiiHrii A characteristic illness dv vein nine in workers on mushroom growing farms :s described. In tour cases constitutional and respiratory symptoms similar to tiiosc seen in farmer's lung developed following the inhalation of dust liberated from disturbance of compost on which mush rooms arc cultivated. In sensitive workers, symptoms developed a few hours after exposure, and etiest radiographs revealed diffuse miliary mottling. Precipitins to thermophyllic actir.otnycctes (present in the compost) were demonstrated in the serum of two cases -- Thorraopolyspora polyspora and Micromonospora vulgaris, respectively. Similar seroloeical findings arc present in farmer's lung, and it is concluded that mushroom worker's lung is merely a variant oi farmer's lung. -- J. Am. Med. Assn. References h Reviews Experimentai Asbestosis, The Development of Lunc Cancer in Rats With Pulmonary Deposits of Chrvsotiie Asbestos Dust. P. Cross, et al. Arch. Environmental Health 15, 343-355 (September, 1967). (Reprints available from Industrial Hygiene Foundation). One hundred and thirty-one rats were exposed to chrysotile asbestos, finely milled, in an exposure chamber for six hours a day, five days a week for a maximum of 62 weeks. Dust concentrations were very heavy, ranging from 42 to 146 mg/cu m (average 86 mg/'cu m). 'About half the animals exposed also had intratracheal application of caustic (lye) to reduce lung clearance and maximice dust retention and pathogenicity. Also, 64 additional animals were given intratracheal injections of chrysotile dust, 14 receiving single doses and the re mainder multiple injections of 3. 5 mg each. Controls consisted of 30 untreated, unexposed ar.imais and 15 rats treated with caustic but unexposed to asbestos. Desier.ec to study asbestosis, tae most important findings of the investigation related to iur.y tumor production. Other inves tigators have r.ot been successiui in producing lung cancer experimentally in rats with chrysotile. Tumor incidence was high. Of those surviving 16 or more months (ie, after appearance of the first tumor) 31% had primary malignant tumors of the lung. Occurrence in rats treated with iyc was 48%, twice the rate of those exposed but r.ot treated with caustic. Malignant pulmonary tumors included adenocarcinomas, fibrosarcomas, and squamous cell cancers as well as a mesothelioma and a mucinous adenocarcinoma. A number of pulmonary lymphoblastomas which occur spontaneously in rats were not counted. Also, atypical metaplasia, not mani festly malignant, was commonly noted. Multicentricity of malignant lesions was observed in several ar.imais. Results of this study support the Unitarian concept of tumor origin from alveolar cells. Despite extreme exposure conditions, diffuse asbestosis was not seen. Fibrosis observed was multifocal, centered in the proximal portion of primary lobules with normal appearing tissue intervening. Cancer production with crysotile in this study appears to involve trace metals introduced during hammer milling which increased nickel, chrome, and cobalt. Previous investigators have not reported subjecting their dusts to hammer milling. The increase in content of trace metals after milling was as follows; nickel, 82%; cobalt, 145%; chrome, 34%. Analysis of the worn hammer of the hammer mill revealed a nickel con tent of 2, 338iAg/gm of sample. This finding, if validated by further studies, should provide u.n important aid to guide industrial hygiene controls of potential health hazards. There are l 3 references. >0 Asbestosis and Neoplasia. I. J. Selikoff, et al. Am. J. Med. _42, 487-496 (April, 1967). The prediction that asbestos-induced neoplasms will rival cigarette-induced lung cancer in the next several decades is reviewed as well as the present state of our knowledge of the role of asbestos in pulmonary asbestos is lung cancer, mesothelioma, other neoplasms, and pleural calification. The progression of asbestos disease without continued exposure and the di agnosis of asbestos disease are reviewed also. All of the conditions arising from asbestos are slow in developing. The neoplasms now encountered in both industry and in the general public are the result of the inhalation of asbestos associated with the limited asbestos production of 30 years ago. The neoplasms associated with the present utilization of and exposure to asbestos will r.ot be evident until the 1990's. From 50 tons a year 90 years ago, the world production is now 4 million tons a year. Asbestos has been described as the fiber with a half life of infinity. In at least 1 /4 of the adults who die in the U.S. and other industrial countries, asbestos bodies are found in the Lung. At present, in most cases, neither pulmonary fibrosis r.or neoplasia is associated with the asbestos now being found postmortem. There 17. 'i i:i i* 4! It 54 <i *U1 m-- -J - * O :5 It ( ?: n.ii i. . I): :***1 '`'tii'.'cr. . '**7 r*' i:..i/;v '.`hit i* ii.iv't' t-j :>* *. ri*t; 'no; i a.; w!u tiler rent s w ''lbor-> :< rt ! hi- inwU'uieal .licet.;; i.:e nature >! the 5 'urves? -inn extent e: iT.v;r..:v;n nt.il i*ijt;tatiui*t;tiuii; ihe lV.'.ee -i. iiidustri*i: r'^'nirc; the r:j "Co ^>i` neoplastic eilccts of isbcslus exposure; anti '.vi.ctitor asbestos bociiub i;.,;y not ijc;7u*timcs result fr-.-m inin.-ral :iln*rs ./liter titan asbestos. -- APCA Absts, *\ Fiber ulaga. Chemistry 'ir.it Techfioiocy. C. P. McCord. ,T. Occ. (July, i'.'67). Fiber glass, like ail common forms of giass, is a chemically inert substance, ft possesses no known toxic oroperties. On a mechanical basis, spicuies ;;tay abrade the skin leading to superficial and transitory irritation. Among fiber glass makers, particularly now workers who arc most exposed, skin irritation occurs, but is not remarkable. Although free silica is a major primary ingredient of the batch before melting, no free silica occurs in the glass fibers or in the ultimate products. Silicosis is not a fiber glass hazard. The present consen sus is that, because of the particle size, fiber glass is not respirable, and thus unlikeiy to reach the alveoli of the lungs, but it rr.av reach the tissues of the upper respiratory tract. In animal experiments the introduction of fiber glass particles into the respiratory tract has failed to provoke pneumoconiosis. However, some minor tissue changes have been observed, chiefly reflecting a foreign-body reaction. Fiber y.ass is not a known carcinogen. Animal experimental work with fiber glass particles introduced into the lungs has failed to provoke lung cancer. Mo ciinical cases of lung cancer have been traced to fiber glass as the source. A. fair number of chemicals in ancillary use in fiber glass production may possess some harm ful oroperties. As examoie, the number includes partially polymerized resins oi phenol formaldehyde, urea formaldehyde ar.c i"ixic$, ar.d fluorides, and trichiorcethylcr.e. Such substances involve the fiber giass makers, wnose exposures are not contemplated in this pre sentation, but do not carry over to secor.darv fabricators, to installers, or to consumers. AH considered, fiber glass, on a relative oasis, is one of the least harmful substances known to industry. i92 Pulmonary Hazards From exposure to Glass Fibers. A. X. M. Xasr. J. Occ. Med. % 3i?-i48 (July, :9o7). The results from animal experiments and human experience with respect to the effects of fibrous giass upon the respiratory tract have been reviewed. The opinion that inhalation of glass fibers may result ir. irritation of the upper respiratory tract, v.-ith no prospect of significant pulmonary involvement, is repeatedly encountered ir. the literature. The size of the glass fibers in common application and their tendency to form felt-like masses upon any object ivith which they come in contact probably prevent inhaled glass fibers from pen etrating into the pulmonary alveoli. Three cases in which exposure to fibrous glass was associated with the development of inflammatory lung disease have been reported by in dividual authors. In those cases the illness was acute, and infection played the major role. A case oi bronchial asthma in association with exposure to fibrous glass has been also reported. In all four cases, r.o appraisal was made concerning other air contam inants that may have been present in the work environment. In a limited number of work ers who had been exposed for years to glass fibers, cardiac and pulmonary-function studies revealed no functional impairment. As far as could be ascertained from a search of the American ar.d European literature, available evidence indicates that fibrous glass is a relatively inert material with no fibroeenic or other significant toxic properties. There are 23 references. -- Author's summary i 1 l \ x PHYSICAL ASPECTS OF THE ENVIRONMENT 1193 Barometric Pressure Fluctuations: Effects on the Activity of Laboratory Mice. R. L. Sprott. Science 157, Id0o-i2j7 (September t>, 1967). Fluctuations in naturally occurring levels of barometric pressure appear to be an important determinant of activity in laboratory mice. In three experiments, activity was higher after increases in barometric pressure than it was after decreases. When the barometric pressure remained relatively stable, intermediate levels of activity were observed. -- Author's abst. i * 4 Ws -Jit ~r: 1 ^i