In conjunction with drafting comprehensive legislation concerning compensation for health effects related to asbestos exposure (the Fairness in Asbestos Injury Act), the Senate Committee on the Judiciary directed the Institute of Medicine to assemble the Committee on Asbestos: Selected Health Effects. This committee was charged with addressing whether asbestos exposure is causally related to adverse health consequences in addition to asbestosis, mesothelioma, and lung cancer. Asbestos: Selected Cancers presents the committee's comprehensive distillation of the peer-reviewed scientific and medical literature regarding association between asbestos and colorectal, laryngeal, esophageal, pharyngeal, and stomach cancers.
Asbestos and Disease provides a much-needed comprehensive compendium and presentation of accumulated information on asbestos and disease. Organized into five parts, this book begins with the nature, occurrence, properties, mining, milling, manufacturing, and use of asbestos minerals. Some chapters follow on the identification, quantification, and environmental distribution of asbestos fibers. This book also tackles the asbestotic and neoplastic effects of asbestos. The pathogenic mechanisms, prevention, and control of asbestos are also addressed. This work will provide nonspecialists with easily comprehensible and meaningful data that will assist them in their endeavors in this field.
Written by one of the leading asbestos experts for attorneys, occupational and environmental health professionals, and others in the field of toxic substances control, this updated resource provides a comprehensive examination of the public health history of asbestos. Includes extensive discussion of corporate knowledge and responsibility for asbestos hazards and detailed discussion of alternatives to asbestos.
Although asbestos was once considered a miracle mineral, today even the word itself has ominous implications for all strata of our society. Incorporated in the past into over 3000 different industrial and consumer products, as well as in building materials and military equipment, opportunities for exposure continue to be ever present in our environment. Of all of us who are potentially exposed, blue collar workers are at greatest risk.Countless thousands of workers and servicemen in a wide variety of trades were disabled or have died consequent to the health effects of asbestos, and many more can be expected to be affected in years to come. Litigation continues, and financial awards in the billions have bankrupt many Fortune 500 companies and numerous smaller companies.While one might implicate our forefathers in this widespread, relentless medical catastrophe, it has been only in recent decades that science has appreciated the complexities of the problem and the long latencies before the asbestos-associated diseases appear clinically. After all these years, prevention remains the hallmark of disease control, as modern treatments remain, to a large extent, futile.
Much of the more than 30 million tons of asbestos used in the United States since 1900 is still present as insulation in offices and schools, as vinyl-asbestos flooring in homes, and in other common products. This volume presents a comprehensive evaluation of the relation of these fibers to specific diseases and the extent of nonoccupational risks associated with them. It covers sources of asbestiform fibers, properties of the fibers, and carcinogenic and fibrogenic risks they pose.
The first edition of Asbestos: Risk Assessment, Epidemiology, and Health Effects received critical acclaim due to the interdisciplinary nature of its content. Editors Ronald Dodson and Samuel Hammar have carefully kept this popular focus while updating and expanding the topics covered in the first edition with the help of internationally known experts. While there are hundreds of books available on many different aspects of asbestos, none contain the encyclopedic, comprehensive coverage you will find here. See What’s New in the Second Edition: Definitions of asbestos by different methodologies and the potential impact that those forms have on health Internationally accepted sampling/analytical schemes Findings of major asbestos-related diseases that continue to increase in most industrialized countries where asbestos is widely used Information on asbestos-induced diseases in biological systems Expanded regulations chapter Copiously illustrated with diagrams, tables, and photographs, including some in color, the book remains an interdisciplinary resource on the major issues in asbestos exposure and human health, with coverage that spans history, pathology, and epidemiology as well as sampling, analysis, and regulatory issues. The editors’ expertise and careful updating set this book apart, making it a comprehensive resource that interlinks diverse specialties. They provide an updated and expanded state-of-the-art discussion of important interdisciplinary factors associated with asbestos-related issues in an easy-to-use reference.
Asbestos have been used in many different environments, including industrial and home construction projects, vehicles, railroads and shipyards, to name a few. Asbestos have significantly affected many lives, particularly individuals and their families who have experienced substantial direct or indirect occupational exposure to asbestos as well as asbestos-containing products and equipment. Many diseases and conditions are reported to have a direct or indirect causal link to asbestos exposure. This book summarises the historical background, current knowledge and advancements concerning asbestos and its related diseases in a simple, easy to understand and concise format. The first chapter covers asbestos mineralogy, industrial applications, occupational and environmental exposure as well as methods of fiber analysis. The second chapter focuses on asbestos pathogenesis, including asbestos levels in the environment and various worksites, the biological effects of asbestos fibers and factors determining its toxicity. The third chapter provides an overview of asbestos-related diseases such as asbestosis, pleural diseases, lung cancer and mesothelioma. Each section also includes a discussion of cause and causation, clinical presentation, pathology, diagnosis, treatment, prognosis and surveillance. The fourth chapter outlines the basic concepts of biostatistics and epidemiology, criteria in establishing the causal relationships, the occupational approach of environmental diseases and current standards and regulations. This book serves as an easy to read, quick reference presented in a bulleted format that allows readers to quickly and easily review the information. It is a useful resource for occupational medicine specialists, healthcare providers and environmental scientists who are interested in understanding asbestos and managing asbestos-related diseases.
People are increasingly concerned about potential environmental health hazards and often ask their physicians questions such as: "Is the tap water safe to drink?" "Is it safe to live near power lines?" Unfortunately, physicians often lack the information and training related to environmental health risks needed to answer such questions. This book discusses six competency based learning objectives for all medical school students, discusses the relevance of environmental health to specific courses and clerkships, and demonstrates how to integrate environmental health into the curriculum through published case studies, some of which are included in one of the book's three appendices. Also included is a guide on where to obtain additional information for treatment, referral, and follow-up for diseases with possible environmental and/or occupational origins.
