Inorganic Fiber Lung Burden in Subjects with Occupational and/or Anthropogenic Environmental Asbestos Exposure in Broni (Pavia, Northern Italy): An SEM-EDS Study on Autoptic Samples

Silvia Damiana Visonà, Silvana Capella, Sofia Bodini, Paola Borrelli, Simona Villani, Eleonora Crespi, Andrea Frontini, Claudio Colosio and Elena Belluso
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Silvia Damiana Visonà: Unit of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, Department of Public Health, Experimental and Forensic Medicine, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Silvana Capella: Department of Earth Sciences, University of Torino, 10125 Torino, Italy
Sofia Bodini: Unit of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, Department of Public Health, Experimental and Forensic Medicine, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Paola Borrelli: Unit of Biostatistics and Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, Experimental and Forensic Medicine, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Simona Villani: Unit of Biostatistics and Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, Experimental and Forensic Medicine, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Eleonora Crespi: Occupational Health Unit, Santi Paolo e Carlo Hospital, 20142 Milano, Italy
Andrea Frontini: Department of Life and Environmental Science, Polytechnic University of Marche, 60131 Ancona, Italy
Claudio Colosio: Occupational Health Unit, Santi Paolo e Carlo Hospital, 20142 Milano, Italy
Elena Belluso: Department of Earth Sciences, University of Torino, 10125 Torino, Italy

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 4, 1-16

Abstract: Increased mortality due to malignant mesothelioma has been demonstrated by several epidemiologic studies in the area around Broni (a small town in Lombardy, northern Italy), where a factory producing asbestos cement was active between 1932 and 1993. Until now, the inorganic fiber burden in lungs has not been investigated in this population. The aim of this study is to assess the lung fiber burden in 72 individuals with previous occupational and/or anthropogenic environmental exposure to asbestos during the activity of an important asbestos cement factory. Inorganic fiber lung burden was assessed in autoptic samples taken from individuals deceased from asbestos-related diseases using a scanning electron microscope equipped with an energy-dispersive spectrometer. Significant differences in the detected amount of asbestos were pointed out among the three types of exposure. In most lung samples taken from patients who died of mesothelioma, very little asbestos (or, in some cases, no fibers) was found. Such subjects showed a significantly lower median amount of asbestos as compared to asbestosis. Almost no chrysotile was detected in the examined samples. Overall, crocidolite was the most represented asbestos, followed by amosite, tremolite/actinolite asbestos, and anthophyllite asbestos. There were significant differences in the amount of crocidolite and amosite fibers according to the kind of exposure. Overall, these findings provide novel insights into the link between asbestos exposure and mesothelioma, as well as the different impacts of the various types of asbestos on human health in relation to their different biopersistences in the lung microenvironment.

Keywords: asbestos; asbestos bodies; malignant mesothelioma; lung fiber burden; SEM-EDS (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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