Document DvdypvZBZRLk0no3GLD6ZOX2N

FILE NAME: ALCOA (ALC) DATE: 1960 Mar DOC#: ALC040 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Abstracts of Journal Articles - Industrial Hygiene Digest HMBn-nOlBWi =3 Industrial Hygiene Digest INDUSTRIAL HEALTH N EW S LITERATURE ABSTRACTS MEDICAL ENGINEERING CHEMICAL TOXICOLOGICAL LEGAL MARCH, 1960 .(VoL 2 4 , N o. 3) - a :=3 [= 3 INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE FOUNDATION MELLON INSTITUTE 4400 FIFTH AVENUE PITTSBURGH 13, PA. HMBfi-nn 18/r 1 Industriai Hygiene D igeit March, I960 m---J ** L--j 248 A n im al E x p e rim e n t w ith Q uartz-C ontaining Ash O btained fro m the Lung of A cute and C hronic S ilicotic Subject, R. K ern. A rc h . G ew erb ep ath o l. G ew erbehyg. 17. 108*116 (1959). G erm an. The o b je c t of the experim ent* w as to uae the actu al q u artz-co n tain in g d u st e x tra c te d fro m lung* affected by acute and by ch ro n ic silic o sis to teat w hether acute ailicoaia ia due to the inhalation of a larg e am ount of q u artz fo r a ab o rt tim e o r to the inhalation of fre a h ly fra c tu re d q u a rtz . One group of ra ta w as given the aahed duat from an acute ailicotic lung and a n o th e r g ro u p the duat from a chronic silic o tic lung. Some rata receiv ed the duat by in tra p e rito n e a l Injection and som e by in tra tra c h e a l injection. A control group of ra ts r e ceiv e d a a h e d d u st fre e d from q u a rtz . Equal d o ses of each d u st w ere injected into the se p a ra te group* and a n im a ls fro m each group w ere sa c rific e d a t the sam e tim e in te rv a ls after in je c tio n . The am ount of flbroaia produced by each duat w as proportional to its quartz con ten t and to the p erio d after injection. The am ount of fib ro sis produced by each dust wa* p ro p o rtio n a l to its q u a rtz content and to the period a fte r injection. No difference* w ere observed betw een the ashed dusts obtained from the acute and chronic silicotic lungs. The q u artz-free d u st p ro d u ced no fib ro s is . The re s u lts provide fu rth e r evidence ag ain st the hypothesis of an en h an ced fib ro g e n ic -property o f fre sh ly fra c tu re d q u a rtz a s co m p ared with aged q u artz. Q u a rtz p a rtic le s u n d er 3 m icro n s in size w ere found to be the m o re fib ro g en ic, w hich ia in acco rd w ith re s u lts of other w o rk ers. - - B ull. Hyg. 249 E x p e rim e n ta l S ilico sis: The Inhibitory E ffect of Iron. P . G ro ss, M arian L . W estrick and J . M . M cN em ey . D iseases of C hest 37. 35-41 (Jan. 1960). R e p rin ts av ailab le fro m the In d u strial H ygiene Foundation upon re q u e st. The in hibition of the fibrogenic action of q u artz d u st by asso ciate d iro n , in itially re p o r te d by K ettle and la te r co n firm ed by G a rd n e r and V orw ald ha* b een re c o n firm e d . In r a t a , th is in h ib itio n w as te m p o ra ry , serv in g to delay the m a tu ra tio n of silic o tic nodules by a few m o n th s only. In guinea p ig s, iro n co m p letely p rev en ted the fo rm atio n o f silico tic nodu le s but it d id not in h ib it com pletely the developm ent of collagen w ithin thickened alv eo lar w alls. In r a t s , the d evelopm ent of collagen w ithin silic o tic nodules p a ra lle le d the d isap p earan ce of iro n fro m th e se s ite s . In guinea p ig s, the iro n h ad also disap p eared from those regions in w hich co llag en had developed. Y et, th ere w ere o th er foci in w hich th ere w as m an ifest inhibition of co llag en fo rm a tio n in spite of the fact th at abundant iro n -fre e silic a w as dem onstrable in su ch re g io n s . T h is ap p aren t inhibition of fib ro sis in the absence of iro n co n trad icts G a rd n e r's p re m is e (ap p lied to alum inum ) that the inhibiting su b stan ce, to be effectiv e, m u s t occupy the sa m e c e ll a s the q u a rtz p a rtic le w hich it in h ib its. - - A uthors' sum m ary 250 M o rb id ity and P athology of Lung C ancer w ith A sb esto sis. H . B ohlig, G. Jacob and B . K a lla b is. Z . U nfallm ed. B eru fsk ran k h . 52, 64-78 (M a r.' 15, 1959). G erm an . The e x ten siv e w orld lite ra tu re on c a n c e r of the lung in asb e sto s w o rk e rs and on re la te d su b jects is h ere review ed at co n siderable length w ith sta tistic a l analysis and c ritic a l d is c u s s io n . F ro m th ese re p o rts the ad m itted ly rough e stim a te is m ade that am ong 40,000 a s b e s to s w o rk e rs in the w o rld 80 c a se s of lung c a n c e r have b een re p o rte d in 20 y e a rs . The opinions and conclusions of different o b serv ers vary considerably and these differences are ex am in ed . P a r tic u la r co n sid eratio n is given to the im p o rtan ce of skilled autopsy exam ination and the d iffic u ltie s w hich m ay ex ist in form ing an opinion on w hether in a p a rtic u la r case e x p o s u re to a s b e s to s c o n trib u ted to the dev elo p m en t o f c a n c e r. M uch m o re re s e a rc h on th is c a n c e r p ro b le m is n eeded but up to the p re s e n t it is sta te d th at a c o m p ariso n of the ex p ecta tio n of p u lm o n ary c an cer in the general population with th at of w o rk ers in asb esto s shows th at in the la tte r g ro u p s the ris k of can cer is not in c re a se d . The m o rb id ity curve of can cer w ith a s b e s to s is p erh ap s rea c h e s its peak at a som ew hat e a rlie r age than th at of non-in d u strial bronchial carcinom a. -- B ull. Hyg. I'-."1 15. 03120521 Induttrici Hygiene Digest M arch, 1960 Hnn-nni8/i6? T / J3 l 251 A rc S ilico ai and A sb esto sis P redisposing C a m e l of C ancer of the Lung. N. N ordvik. A r c h , b e lg e a m e d . a o c ia le J_7, 85-9 9 (F e b . 1959). F r e n c h . A g rin d e r of ateel castin g s who su ffered from silic o sis developed can cer of the lung w hich w as proved by the detection of m alignant c e lls in the sputum . He claim ed com p e n sa tio n on the b a s is th at the com bined le sio n s constituted an occupational d is e a se . This q u e stio n w h eth er o r not m alignant d isease of the lung should be reg ard ed as cau sally related to pneu m o co n io sis and so com pensatablc is not uncom m on now adays; indeed it is an in creasin g ly fre q u e n t p ro b lem fo r com pensation m edical b o ard s. The c ru cial difficulty is that p rim ary c a n c e r of the lung is a d isease prevalent among all groups of the population, irresp ectiv e of th eir o c c u p a tio n s. A p a rtic u la r asp eet of the pro b lem is the e x cessiv ely high incidence of lung can c e r am ong h eavy c ig a re tte sm o k ers. In the ab sen ce of ex p erim en tal proof that pneum oconiosis and c a n c e r o f the lung a re linked etiologically, re c o u rs e m u st b e had to studies of the re la tiv e p re v a le n c e o f lung c a n c e r in sep arate occupational g ro u p s. T his sta tistic a l approach has been u sed in m an y field stu d ies all over the w orld. A review of th ese studies is the substance of the p re s e n t a rtic le . The author does not accept th at th e re is any in terre latio n sh ip betw een can cer and s ilic o s is but ad m its the probability in a s b e s to s is . T hese conclusions accord g enerally w ith p re s e n t thought and p ractice in G reat B rita in . -- Cond. from B ull. Hyg. 252 G la ss D ust: A Study of Its B iologic E ffects. P . G ro ss, M arian L . W estrick and J. M. M c N e r n e y . A .M .A . A r c h . ln d . H e a lth 21_, 1 0 -2 3 (J a n . I9 6 0 ). R e p rin ts av ailab le fro m the In d u strial H ygiene Foundation upon re q u e st. A study w as m ade of the biologic effects of g la s s d u st upon the conjunctiva, the g a s tro in te s tin a l tr a c t, and the lungs of e x p erim en tal a n im a ls. No effect of g la ss dust and g la s s flak es w as dem o n strab le upon the conjunctiva. No toxic o r trau m atic effect w as de m o n s tra b le upon tbe g astro in te stin a l tra c t. T here w as only slig h t d ep ressio n of the grow th ra te w hen ra ts in g ested a d iet containing as m uch ground g lass a s food. This d ep ressio n w as due e n tire ly to a lo w er food intake caused by the bulkiness of the g lass diet. The pulm onary ch an g es in guinea p ig s exposed to fine glass dust fo r one y ear and those of ra ts eith er exposed to the sam e d u st o r given injections in tra tra c h e a lly w ith it w ere m inim al in c h a ra c te r and con s is te d only o f sm a ll fo cal alv eo lar d u st ce ll co llectio n s w ithout fib ro s is . In the pulm onary lym ph nodes th e re w ere also focal in tra c e llu la r g la s s -d u s t d ep o sits w hich w ere likew ise not a s s o c ia te d w ith re a c tiv e fib ro sis. T here w as no b ro n ch ial d ise a se attributable to tbe dust. C o m p ared to kaolin, the pulm onary effect of fine g la ss du st was even m ore benign, because the sto re d d u st rem ain ed alv eo lar instead of occupying in te rs titia l positions and th erefo re w as m o re re a d ily m o b ilized and cle a re d from the lung. C o a rse g la ss d u st injected into the lungs of r a ts behaved like in e rt foreign m aterial and w as asso ciated w ith m inim al foreign body r e actio n w ithout significant collagen form ation. -- A uthors' sum m ary 253 Infection w ith A typical Tubercle B acilli in G raphite P neum oconiosis. A .M .A . A rch . Internal Med. 814-817 (M ay 1959). M. J. H irsch. S3 G rap h ite pneum oconiosis is co m p arativ ely r a r e . In the lite ra tu re of the subject p o s t-m o rte m findings have been reported in 7 c a se s but though p ulm onary cavitation o ccu rred in 5 of th e s e , in 1 c a se only was it attributed to tu b e rc u lo sis. A 5 2 -y ear-o ld w hite m an w hile em ployed a t a g rap h ite m ine in T exas, w here he had w orked fo r 9 y e a rs , developed a spon ta n eo u s p n eu m o th o rax , which was com plicated by p le u ra l effusion. R adiographic exam ination re v e a le d d iffu se p u lm o n ary fib ro sis w hich w as diagnosed as g rap h ite pneum oconiosis, and e x cavating tu b e rc u lo sis of the right upper lobe. T his w as treated by lobectom y and the diagnosis of p n eu m o co n io sis w as confirm ed. The p a rtic u la r in te re s t of tbe c a se is in the b acte rio lo g ical fin d in g s. A c id -fa s t b a c illi w ere cultured from the sputum and d ire c tly from the re se c te d p u l m o n a ry cav ity . The o rg an ism s w ere non-pathogenic fo r guinea p ig s, m ice, chickens and ra b b its . In the p re s e n t case the organism is re g a rd e d as an aty p ical non-chrom ogenic m yco b a c te riu m and the pneum o co n io sis is considered to be a fa c to r p red isp o sin g to p ro g re ssiv e in fe c tio n w ith o rg a n ism s w hich a re not o rd in a rily pathogenic fo r m a n . A few s im ila r c a se s have been re p o rte d in asso ciatio n with silic o sis . - - Cond. from B ull. Hyg. 03120522 16.