Mesothelioma in an individual following exposure to crocidolite-containing gaskets as a teenager

• Published in: International journal of occupational and environmental health Vol. 17; no. 3; p. 190
• Main Authors: Dodson, Ronald F, Hammar, Samuel P, Poye, Lee W
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 01-07-2011
• Subjects: Air Pollutants, Occupational - toxicity; Asbestos, Crocidolite - toxicity; Dust; Humans; Lung Neoplasms - chemically induced; Male; Mesothelioma - chemically induced; Middle Aged; Occupational Exposure - adverse effects; Time Factors
• ISSN: 1077-3525
• DOI: 10.1179/oeh.2011.17.3.190

Mesothelioma is considered a signal tumor for asbestos exposure and typically occurs decades after first exposure to asbestos. Tissue analysis often indicates past exposure to mixed types of asbestos. This report describes the case of a 58-year-old man who developed mesothelioma after reported exposure to crocidolite from asbestos-containing gaskets beginning at age 16 during three summers during high school and for approximately four hours per day during the last semester of his senior year. He had no further known exposure to asbestos. Analytical transmission electron microscopy analysis of digested tissue samples revealed elevated levels of crocidolite asbestos fibers and the presence of crocidolite cored ferruginous bodies. This case is unique in that it establishes that relatively short and/or intense exposures to crocidolite asbestos traumatically released from a previously classified Category 1 nonfriable asbestos-containing material (NESHAP) was confirmed via tissue burden analysis years following the historically defined exposures.