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Biomedical subjects

R Saracci

Publications and source records attributed to R Saracci.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1986

Ten years of epidemiologic investigations on man-made mineral fibers and health.

This paper introduces the reports that follow it in a supplement dealing with the extended follow-up of mortality and cancer incidence among workers in the man-made mineral fiber (MMMF) production industry in Europe, the largest international study of its kind thus far initiated. In addition it reviews the prior epidemiologic evidence on this subject, both in terms of the earlier results of the same study and the results of other studies on the long-term effects of occupational exposure to MMMF. The conclusion drawn from this prior evidence was that the possibility that some excess of lung cancer may be causally related to exposure to MMMF could not be ruled out of the range of reasonable interpretations. When the findings of the extended follow-up, which this paper introduces, are added to the existing evidence, the overall results were considered to endorse the indication that no adverse long-term health effects have been detectable in terms of mortality throughout almost all segments of the MMMF production industry and to support the inference that MMMF--as present in the environmental conditions of early slag-wool/rock-wool production--may have played a role in the causation of lung cancer.

Calcium Compounds↗
PubMed1985

Man-made mineral fibers and health. Answered and unanswered questions.

An overall assessment of the epidemiologic evidence from 23 published studies on workers' health in the industry producing man made mineral fibers (MMMF) (21 studies) and in the user industry (2 studies) is presented. Three major studies recently published, one cross-sectional and two of the historical cohort type, conducted in the producer industry, have been singled out for closer examination and discussion. The combined evidence from the epidemiologic studies indicates that causal associations between MMMF occupational exposure, as it occurred in past decades, and lung cancer and chronic respiratory diseases cannot be excluded, neither does it offer clear support for such associations. Experimental data indicate clearly that a fibrogenic effect can be obtained by the intratracheal administration of MMMF and a carcinogenic effect by the intratracheal, intrapleural, and intraperitoneal administration of MMMF, while no appreciably fibrogenic nor carcinogenic effects have been detected in inhalation experiments. While it can be stated that no long-term pathological effects have been observed in MMMF workers in the first 20 years or so after first employment, the key scientific issue of whether MMMF are fibrogenic and/or carcinogenic in man when inhaled remains still open.

Air Pollutants, Occupational↗
PubMed1985

[Markers of exposure and early lesions in cancer epidemiology].

The biological markers of risk can be separated into two categories: markers of exposure to a specific substance, based on several biochemical, physical and immunological methods (usually able to measure the absorbed dose); markers of early lesions which usually are not specific for a particular substance and do not estimate the dose of exposure. In epidemiological research on cancer etiology, biological markers have a different role according to whether cases are subjects with early lesions or with invasive cancers. The first approach has the advantage of shortening the observation time between exposure and the appearance of a biological effect. On the other hand, the biological relevance of the study could be limited due to the non univocal relation between early lesions and cancer. With the second approach, invasive cancer can be related to specific markers of exposure (this would permit to draw direct inference on disease etiology) or to markers of early lesions (etiological interpretation in this case would be less straightforward). The two approaches should be considered in the frame of two basic problems: What is the advantage of measuring exposure at the individual level? What is the advantage of a biological marker as compared to traditional epidemiological methods? With studies at the group level the correlation between exposure variables and disease frequency can be estimated. Nevertheless only studies at the individual level can exclude the fact that the observed correlation is due to an artefact. In this case we are left with the second question and many answers are possible.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Carcinoma, Hepatocellular↗
PubMed1984

Mortality and incidence of cancer of workers in the man made vitreous fibres producing industry: an international investigation at 13 European plants.

A total of 25 146 workers at 13 plants producing man made mineral fibres (MMMF) in seven European countries (Denmark, Finland, Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Norway, Sweden, and United Kingdom) were studied in a historical cohort investigation. At 12 of the 13 plants an environmental survey was carried out to determine present day concentrations of airborne man made mineral fibres that showed levels of respirable fibres usually below 1 f/ml and most commonly in the range 0.01 to 0.1 f/ml. Workers were entered into the cohort at the moment of their first employment at one of the 13 factories (which started to operate between 1900 and 1955), and were followed up to at least 31 December 1977. Three per cent of the workers were lost to follow up. National death rates and national cancer incidence rates, where applicable, were used for each of the seven countries for comparison with the workers' cohort. A single death from mesothelioma was reported out of a total of 309 353 person-years of observation. No consistent differences (within and between plants) were noted between observed and expected numbers concerning individual causes of death or individual cancer sites, apart from lung cancer. For this cause a tendency was observed for the standardised mortality ratio (SMR) to increase with time from first employment. When the data from all the plants were pooled a statistically significant raised SMR of 192 (17 observed, 8.9 expected; 95% confidence interval 117-307) appeared in the group with 30 years or more since first employment. The relevance of this finding, to which different factors including uncontrolled confounders such as smoking habits may have contributed, cannot be established at present. The result is suggestive, however, of an increased risk associated with the man made mineral fibres working environment of 30 or more years ago.

Europe↗
PubMed1984

Target organs for carcinogenicity of chemicals and industrial exposures in humans: a review of results in the IARC monographs on the evaluation of the carcinogenic risk of chemicals to humans.

Epidemiological observations indicate that cancers affecting different organs and systems in humans have different causes. At the descriptive level, cancer incidence and mortality rates exhibit patterns of geographic and temporal variation which are distinct and separate for each cancer site and even, at a given site, for different histological types (for instance, increasing squamous cell carcinoma of the lung and decreasing stomach cancer in most developed countries in recent decades). The existence of these distinct patterns in itself indicates that different causes are at the origin of cancers at different sites. Hence, it is of scientific and practical importance not only to identify agents that are carcinogenic to humans but also to specify as definitely as possible the target organ(s) of their action. This is done in the present review of results in the International Agency for Research on Cancer Monographs on the Evaluation of the Carcinogenic Risk of Chemicals to Humans.

Bibliographies as Topic↗
PubMed1981

Malignant mesothelioma and radiological chest abnormalities in two villages in Central Turkey. An epidemiological and environmental investigation.

A comparative epidemiological and environmental study in two neighbouring villages, Karain and Karlin, in Central Turkey showed an excess adult mortality, shortening of life expectancy, and an excess of pleural radiological abnormalities in Karain. This supports an earlier report of an endemic of pleural mesothelioma in the village. Concentrations of airborne respirable fibres were uniformly very low in Karlik and higher in some of the air samples from Karain, the fibres being similar in composition to those of erionite-a mineral of the zeolite family and the major contributor to the Karain clouds. This is compatible with the hypothesis of a causal association between endemic mesothelioma and inhalation of erionite fibres, but the fibre concentrations in all samples are so low as to leave in question the aetiological role of erionite. In addition to their local importance these results may have relevance for the wider scientific and public-health issue of long-term inhalation of mineral fibres at low concentrations.

Adolescent↗