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Comments on the health effects institute‐asbestos research (HEI‐AR) report: “Asbestos in public and commercial buildings,” with emphasis on risk assessment methods used
Author(s) -
Sterling Theodor D.,
Collett Chris W.,
Rosenbaum Wilf L.,
Weinkam James J.
Publication year - 1993
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.4700240613
Subject(s) - asbestos , medicine , environmental health , extrapolation , occupational exposure , public health , health risk , risk assessment , asbestos fibers , pathology , statistics , metallurgy , computer security , computer science , materials science , mathematics
Abstract A Health Effects Institute—Asbestos Research Report calculates the risk of exposure to environmental asbestos fibers (EAF) by downward extrapolation from the mortality of workers exposed for 20 years. This extrapolation is improper because 1) relative risks of asbestos exposure very likely are not linearly progressive; 2) the composition of EAF may not be equivalent to that in mining or fabricating; 3) the same environmental asbestos concentration probably represents different exposure doses for different populations; and 4) health effects of asbestos exposure on children, seniors, patients, the institutionalized, the handicapped, and the chronically ill may not be the same as those of healthy workers. Evidence of asbestos‐related disease among family members of exposed workers demonstrates that the risk observed for EAF is substantially larger than that estimated from downward extrapolation and suggests a basis for an alternative approach to estimating asbestos‐related health risks. Such epidemiologic procedures are well established and ought to form the basis for detecting the health effects of EAF. It is also unclear which industry supports HEI‐AR. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.