Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39609252›Full record

Observational studyAmerican journal of industrial medicine2025

Asbestos Burden in Lungs of Subjects Deceased From Mesothelioma Who Lived in Proximity to an Asbestos Factory: A Topographic Post-Mortem SEM-EDS Study.

Silvia Damiana Visonà, Matthew Untalan, Barbara Bertoglio, Silvana Capella, Elena Belluso, Marco Billò, Tara Ivic-Pavlicic, Emanuela Taioli

Abstract readObservational Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in American journal of industrial medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing 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

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
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

8 authors.

Silvia Damiana VisonàDepartment of Public Health, Experimental and Forensic Medicine, Unit of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.ORCID 0000-0001-7947-7087
Matthew UntalanInstitute for Translational Epidemiology and Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.ORCID 0009-0006-4616-2744
Barbara BertoglioDepartment of Public Health, Experimental and Forensic Medicine, Unit of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
Silvana CapellaDepartment of Earth Sciences, University of Torino, Turin, Italy.
Elena BellusoDepartment of Earth Sciences, University of Torino, Turin, Italy.ORCID 0000-0002-9046-3281
Marco BillòDepartment of Physics, University of Torino, Turin, Italy.
Tara Ivic-PavlicicInstitute for Translational Epidemiology and Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.
Emanuela TaioliInstitute for Translational Epidemiology and Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.

Funding

The authors received no specific funding for this work.
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAsbestos exposure and its pathological consequences, especially malignant mesothelioma (MM) still represent a major public health problem on a global scale. After the ban of asbestos in most western countries, nonoccupational exposure plays an essential role in MM pathogenesis. However, few studies have quantified asbestos lung burden after environmental exposure. The main objective of this work is to understand if asbestos lung content is different between occupationally and environmentally exposed individuals, and if the distance between the subjects' residences and the source of exposure is significantly associated with the asbestos lung burden.

methodsIn this retrospective, observational study we quantified, with analytical scanning electron microscopy, asbestos content in lungs of individuals deceased from MM between 2005 and 2019, who were exposed to asbestos (occupationally and/or environmentally) in Broni, a small town in northern Italy where an important asbestos-cement plant operated until 1993.

resultsWe analyzed asbestos lung content of 77 subjects. We found that the asbestos lung content in MM patients who lived around the asbestos factory was as high as that seen in occupationally exposed individuals; this holds true in residents up to 10 km radius from the factory. We found no significant associations between the residence duration/distance ratio and asbestos lung burden.

conclusionsThis study suggests that heavy asbestos pollution involves not only the area adjacent to the factory, but the entire town of Broni and the surroundings. This is alarming if we consider that most asbestos factories still active in some countries are located close to towns and dwellings.

Indexed as

AsbestosEnvironmental ExposureLungLung NeoplasmsMesothelioma, MalignantOccupational ExposureAdultAgedAged, 80 and overAutopsyFemaleHumansItalyMaleMicroscopy, Electron, ScanningMiddle AgedAsbestosasbestosasbestos lung burdenenvironmental asbestos exposureenvironmental epidemiologyscanning electron microscopy

Identifiers

PMID39609252
PMCPMC11731493

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Registered trials

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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.