Crysotile Asbestos Textile Workers Face Risk of Cancer, Mesothelioma

According to a new research, workers in the textile industry exposed to chrysotile asbestos have an increased risk of developing lung cancer, asbestosis cancer of the pleura and mesothelioma, despite the prior claims that the form of asbestos is safe because it is less likely to give off fibers.

The study, which is published in the current issue of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, looked at asbestos textile workers from four plants in North Carolina employed from 1950 through 1973. The plants used crysotile asbestos, the most commonly-used asbestos in the world.

Crysotile asbestos is currently mined primarily in Canada, Russia and Italy, and those three countries have promoted it as a safe form of asbestos because it is less febrile than other types of asbestos and is usually encased in a form of resin or cement so that it does not crumble as easily and gives off less dust. Inhalation of asbestos fibers over time is seen as the primary cause of asbestos-related ailments, such as mesothelioma, asbestosis and lung cancer.

Crysotile asbestos is used to make woven materials, such as yarn, and used to strengthen some building materials. It has even been used in some Canadian asphalt roads to make them more durable. It is also used in brake shoes, disk pads, plastics, caulking, pipes and shingles.

The new study looked at 5,770 employees who worked at one of four North Carolina asbestos plants for at least one day, and found a 47% increase in overall mortality when compared to the general population, a 41% increase in mortality for all cancers, and a 95% increase in mortality due to lung cancer. The study also found specific increases of rates of asbestos-related illnesses, such as asbestosis and mesothelioma cancer, and noted that the mortality rates for those ailments were not one quantifiable number, instead finding that the risk increased the longer workers worked around asbestos.

Asbestos exposure is known to be the primary cause of mesothelioma cancer and asbestosis, and the conditions are often not discovered for many years after the exposure. Asbestosis is a chronic inflammatory lung disease that can prove fatal. Mesothelioma is an extremely fatal form of cancer that attacks the lining of the chest and lungs, which can go undetected for decades. Both diseases are contracted through breathing in of asbestos fibers.

Generally, workers in the fields of construction, mining, ship-building demolitions and asbestos removal have been considered to be most at-risk. The new study suggests that certain asbestos textile workers are also at risk.

Exposure to asbestos throughout most of the 20th century has resulted in over 600,000 asbestos lawsuits filed on behalf of people who have been diagnosed with mesothelioma or other asbestos-related diseases. The lawsuits have been filed against more than 6,000 different defendants who manufactured, sold or worked with the toxic substance.