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Mesothelioma in a worker who spun chrysotile asbestos at home during childhood
Author(s) -
Yano Eiji,
Wang ZhiMing,
Wang XiaoRong,
Wang MianZheng,
Takata Ayako,
Kohyama Norihiko,
Suzuki Yasunosuke
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.20675
Subject(s) - chrysotile , tremolite , asbestos , mesothelioma , medicine , pathology , metallurgy , materials science
Background Malignant mesothelioma has a long latency period and more commonly found in those exposed to amphibole than chrysotile asbestos. Method A 35 years old asbestos worker in an asbestos textile plant in Chongqing, China, developed mesothelioma after only 4 years of employment. He was born and bred in a company residence of an asbestos plant and manually spun asbestos thread during school age. In the plant, not amphibole but only chrysotile has been used. Results Diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma was confirmed by comprehensive approaches including gross appearance, histology, histochemistry, and immunocytochemistry. In the lung and tumor tissues, huge number of tremolite with exceptional chrysotile was observed despite the reverse proportion in the work environment. Discussion Residential exposure and home spinning of asbestos seemed contributed to the early development of mesothelioma in this subject. Although only chrysotile was used and contamination of tremolite was low in the work environment, chrysotile seemed to be cleared leaving tremolite remain in the tissue. Conclusion Chrysotile with little contamination of tremolite can lead to early development of malignant mesothelioma when heavily exposed from childhood at a company residence with household exposure. There can be several mechanisms for tremolite to remain in the lung tissue, far exceeding chrysotile in number. Am. J. Ind. Med. 52:282–287, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.