Incidence of pleural mesothelioma in a community exposed to fibres with fluoro-edenitic composition in Biancavilla (Sicily, Italy) (original) (raw)
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Annali dell'Istituto superiore di sanità, 2014
The objective of this chapter is to study the health impact of the exposure to fibres with fluoro-edenitic composition on the residents in Biancavilla (Sicily, Italy), in terms of mortality and hospitalization. The diseases which international scientific literature indicates as associated with asbestos exposure were taken into consideration: mesothelioma of pleura, peritoneum, pericardium and tunica vaginalis testis, malignant neoplasm of larynx, malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung, malignant neoplasm of ovary, pneumoconiosis; moreover, in order to describe the health profile of the study population, large groups of diseases were taken into consideration. Current data (available in the Data Bases of the Unit of Statistics of ISS) regarding mortality and hospitalization were analyzed. Standardized Mortality Ratios, Standardized Hospitalization Ratios and Age-standardized Death Rates were calculated. The demographic background of the population residing in Biancavilla was...
2004
A total of 17 cases of pleural mesothelioma were ascertained in the town of Biancavilla (Sicily, Italy), on the southwest slopes of the volcano Etna, from 1980 to 1997. Occupational exposure to asbestos was considered possible in only 2 of them, though it could not be excluded in 5 other cases: for the remaining 10 cases the hypothesis of environmental exposure was deemed reasonable. On the basis of this evaluation, a mineralogic study was started in the area of Biancavilla, where incohesive volcanic material has largely been used in the building industry and road paving since the 1960s-1970s. This study led to the identification of the new fluoro-edenite amphibole with prismatic, acicular and fibrous asbestiform morphologies. With a view to acquiring more detailed information on the possible causal relationship between exposure to this mineral and the onset of mesotheliomas, the mineral was tested, by a single intraperitoneal or intrapleural injection, on groups of 80 Sprague-Dawley rats (40 males and 40 females) (fibrous fluoroedenite) and on a group of 30 rats (15 males and 15 females) (powdered prismatic fluoro-edenite), 8 weeks old at the start of the study, at a dose of 25 mg in 1 cc of water; 1 cc of water was administered by intraperitoneal injection to 80 rats (controls). One hundred and nine weeks after the treatment, a high incidence of peritoneal and, to a lesser extent, pleural mesotheliomas was observed in the animals treated with fibrous fluoroedenite; this incidence is comparable to that obtained with various kinds of asbestos. Up to now no cases of mesothelioma have been observed in the group treated with prismatic fluoro-edenite, or in the control group. Eur.
Annali dell'Istituto superiore di sanità, 2014
Subsequently to the observation of a localized excess of mortality from malignant pleural neoplasms in the town of Biancavilla (Sicily), previously unknown amphibolic fibres with fluoro-edenitic composition were detected as naturally occurring soil contaminants. Less then two years after the initial report, ISS provided a set of public health recommendations that were complied by regional and local institutions. The recognition of Biancavilla as a National Priority Contaminated Site in 2002 opened the way to clean-up interventions. An up-dating of epidemiological studies, exposure assessment investigations and in vivo and in vitro mechanistic studies on fluoro-edenite fibres is provided in this issue. Scientific evidence can provide a sound foundation to public health action and environmental remediation. Finally, it is now necessary to properly tune the response of the health system to the community needs in terms of diagnostic procedures and medical treatment.
Annals of Occupational Hygiene, 2012
Background: Epidemics of malignant mesothelioma are occurring among inhabitants of Casale Monferrato and Bari never employed in the local asbestos-cement (AC) factories. The mesothelioma risk increased with proximity of residence to both plants. Objectives: To provide information on the intensity of environmental asbestos exposure, in the general population living around these factories, through the evaluation of the lung fibre burden in mesothelioma patients. Methods: We analysed by a scanning electron microscope equipped with X-ray microanalysis wet (formalin-fixed) lung tissue samples from eight mesothelioma patients who lived in Casale Monferrato or Bari and underwent surgery. Their occupational and residential history was obtained during face-to-face interviews. Semi-quantitative and quantitative indices of cumulative environmental exposure to asbestos were computed, based on residential distance from the AC plants and duration of stay. Results: The lung fibre burden ranged from 110 000 to 4 300 000 fibres per gram of dry lung (f/g) and was >1 000 000 f/g in three subjects. In four cases, only amphibole fibres were detected. Environmental exposures had ceased at least 10 years before samples were taken. No patient had other definite or probable asbestos exposures. A linear relationship was observed between the lung fibre burden and all three indices of environmental cumulative exposure to asbestos. Conclusions: Environmental exposure to a mixture of asbestos fibres may lead to a high lung fibre burden of amphiboles years after exposure cessation. The epidemiological evidence of an increased mesothelioma risk for the general population of Casale Monferrato and Bari, associated with asbestos contamination of the living environment, is corroborated.
Mesothelioma mortality surveillance and asbestos exposure tracking in Italy
Annali dell'Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 2012
Introduction. Spatial distribution of mortality from pleural mesothelioma (which in the IcD-10 Revision has a specific code: c45.0) in Italy for the period 2003-2009 is described. Previous mortality studies at national level employed the topographic code "Malignant neoplasms of pleura", because of unavailability of a specific code in IcD-9 Revision for pleural mesothelioma. Methods. Standardized mortality ratios were computed for all municipalities, using each regional population as reference; for municipalities in Regions with rate higher than the national rate, the latter has been used as reference. SMRs were computed specifically also for each Italian Polluted Sites "of national concern for environmental remediation" (IPS) with asbestos exposure sources, composed by one or more municipalities, using regional rate as reference. Spatial Scan Statistics procedure, using SatScan software, was applied in cluster analysis: the country was divided into geographic macro-areas and the relative risks (RR) express the ratio of risk within the cluster to the risk of the macro-area outside the cluster. clusters with p-value < 0.10 were selected. Results. The national standardized annual mortality rate was 1.7 cases per 100 000. Several areas with evident burden of asbestos-related disease were detected. Significant clusters were found in correspondence to asbestos-cement industries (e.g. casale Monferrato, women: RR = 28.7), shipyards (e.g. Trieste, men: RR = 4.8), petrochemical industries (e.g. Priolo, men: RR = 6.9) and a stone quarry contaminated by fluoro-edenite fibres (Biancavilla, women: RR = 25.9). Some of the increased clusters correspond to IPS. Conclusions. The results may contribute to detect asbestos exposure and to set priorites for environmental remediation.
Annali dell'Istituto superiore di sanita, 2020
Malignant mesothelioma (MM) is a rare neoplasm caused by asbestos. Mortality from MM in ≤50 years old people, considering the long latency, is likely related to asbestos exposure in childhood. Mortality from MM (C45, ICD10 code) is described among ≤50 years (ys) old people in Italy, in 2003-2016. National and regional Standardized Rates (SRs) were computed by age-class. The North-South trend of regional SRs, increasing in >50ys age-class, showed a flat cline in ≤50ys old people. Municipal Standardized Mortality Ratios (SMRs) were computed, with respect to regional figures, for ≤50 ys old population. In Italy, 487 people ≤50 ys old died from MM, in 2003-2016 (2.5% of all MM deaths), corresponding to 35/year. The highest SMRs were observed in Northern Regions, the most industrialized areas. Exceeding SMRs were found in 10 municipalities where former asbestos-cement plants, shipyards, and a quarry contaminated by fluoro-edenite fibres were present. Early mortality from MM, proxy of ...
Journal of Public Health Research
The goal of this study is to understand more about the role of asbestos in causing human diseases, first of all mesothelioma, by investigating a large series of deaths due to asbestos-related diseases (ARDs). The main aim is to clarify if even very low amounts of asbestos can cause mesothelioma and other ARDs, as well as to find out if a different individual vulnerability can be important. This retrospective study included 188 subjects who died from asbestos related diseases in 2000-2017 in the area around Broni, Italy, where an important asbestos cement factory had been active from 1932 until 1993. In each case, a forensic autopsy has been performed. In order to perform the present study, the records were retrieved, including the clinical files, the autopsy, and the histological report. The statistical analysis performed showed that there was a significant relation between the cause of death (mesothelioma, lung cancer or asbestosis) and the kind of exposure (occupational, neighborh...