Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34354974›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in public health2021

Evaluation of Deposition and Clearance of Asbestos (Detected by SEM-EDS) in Lungs of Deceased Subjects Environmentally and/or Occupationally Exposed in Broni (Pavia, Northern Italy).

Silvia D Visonà, Silvana Capella, Sofia Bodini, Paola Borrelli, Simona Villani, Eleonora Crespi, Claudio Colosio, Carlo Previderè, Elena Belluso

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in public health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Prospective Analysis of Mesotheliomas in Subjects With BAP1 Cancer Syndrome: Clinical Characteristics and Epigenetic Correlates of Disease.Journal of thoracic oncology : official publication of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Silvia D VisonàUnit of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, Department of Public Health, Experimental and Forensic Medicine, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
Silvana CapellaDepartment of Earth Sciences, University of Torino, Turin, Italy.
Sofia BodiniUnit of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, Department of Public Health, Experimental and Forensic Medicine, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
Paola BorrelliUnit of Biostatistics and Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, Experimental and Forensic Medicine, Pavia University, Pavia, Italy.
Simona VillaniUnit of Biostatistics and Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, Experimental and Forensic Medicine, Pavia University, Pavia, Italy.
Eleonora CrespiOccupational Health Unit, Santi Paolo e Carlo Hospital, Milan, Italy.
Claudio ColosioOccupational Health Unit, Santi Paolo e Carlo Hospital, Milan, Italy.
Carlo PreviderèUnit of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, Department of Public Health, Experimental and Forensic Medicine, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
Elena BellusoDepartment of Earth Sciences, University of Torino, Turin, Italy.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Biodurability is one of the main determinants of asbestos hazardousness for human health. Very little is known about the actual persistence of asbestos in lungs and its clearance, nor about differences in this regard between the different mineralogical types of asbestos. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the amount, the dimensional characteristics and the mineralogic kinds of asbestos in lungs (measured using SEM-EDS) of a series of 72 deceased subjects who were certainly exposed to asbestos (mainly crocidolite and chrysotile) during their life. Moreover, we investigated possible correlations between the lung burden of asbestos (in general and considering each asbestos type), as well as their dimension (length, width, and l/w ratio) and the duration of exposure, the latency- in case of malignant mesothelioma (MM), the survival and the time since the end of exposure. In 62.5% of subjects, asbestos burden in lungs was lower that the threshold considered demonstrative for occupational exposure. In 29.1% of cases no asbestos was found. Chrysotile was practically not detected. The mean length of asbestos fibers and the length to width ratio were significantly related to the duration of exposure to asbestos. No other statistically significant correlations were found between the amount and dimensional characteristics of asbestos (nor with the relative amount of each asbestos type) and the other chronological variables considered. In conclusion, it was pointed out that chrysotile can be completely removed from human lungs in <8 years and, instead, amphiboles persist much more time. The present results suggest, as well, that the finding of no asbestos in lungs cannot rule out the attribution of MM to asbestos (in particular, chrysotile) inhaled in an occupational setting. This point is of crucial importance from a legal point of view.

Indexed as

AsbestosLung NeoplasmsAsbestos, AmphiboleAsbestos, SerpentineHumansLungAsbestosAsbestos, AmphiboleAsbestos, Serpentineasbestosasbestos clearancechrysotilelung fiber burdenmalignant mesotheliomaSEM-EDS

Identifiers

PMID34354974
PMCPMC8329042

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.