Cause-Specific Mortality in Relation to Chrysotile-Asbestos Exposure in Chinese Cohort

The dangers of chrysotile asbestos continues to remain a contentious topic,

especially among defendants who argue that chrysotile is a “safe” fiber.

Chrysotile represents 95% of all asbestos ever used and is currently the

only type of asbestos commercially being used in the world. Its uses include

textile products, friction and heat resistant materials, cement and rubber

products.  China happens to be one of the biggest consumers of asbestos and

have consequently experienced an alarming rate of asbestos-related disease

and asbestos-related death among exposed workers.

In this study, scientists evaluated a group of 577 workers from a

chrysotile-textile plant in China from between 1972 to 2008. Their analysis

indicated that exposure to chrysotile asbestos was closely associated with

excess mortality from cancer and respiratory diseases compared to an

occupational control group and the Chinese national level. Furthermore, the

study found that increased mortality was associated with the amount of

chrysotile exposure, number of exposure years, age at first exposure year

and other variables, such as smoking history and birth year.

In summary, chrysotile asbestos continues to be highly carcinogenic to

humans as illustrated by the study's cohort's increased mortality from lung

cancers and nonmalignant respiratory diseases which resulted exclusively

from chrysotile asbestos exposure. Click here to view this study.