Premium
Asbestos disease in sheet metal workers: II. Radiologic signs of asbestosis among active workers
Author(s) -
Michaels David,
Zoloth Stephen,
Lacher Margot,
Holstein Edwin,
Lilis Ruth,
Drucker Ernest
Publication year - 1987
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.4700120512
Subject(s) - asbestosis , asbestos , medicine , occupational disease , occupational exposure , pleural disease , pleural thickening , parenchyma , pathology , radiology , respiratory disease , environmental health , pleural effusion , lung , materials science , metallurgy
A review of chest x‐rays of 707 currently employed New York metropolitan area sheet metal workers found that 29.3% of the workers with 20 years or more of union membership (a surrogate for years of exposure) had radiologic abnormalities characteristic of parenchymal and/or pleural asbestosis, with 18.6% having abnormalities characteristic of parenchymal asbestosis (International Labor Organization [ILO] classification 1/0 or higher) and 17.4% of pleural asbestosis. The prevalence of abnormalities characteristic of either parenchymal and/or pleural asbestosis in the group as a whole was 16.4%, with 10.9% exhibiting signs of parenchymal asbestosis and 9.2% of pleural asbestosis. There was a strong, statistically significant relationship between years in the trade and the prevalence of radiologic abnormalities. These findings underscore the need for medical surveillance of all asbestos‐exposed construction workers, including retirees and workers who have had past exposure but who are no longer exposed.