NEW FIBROUS DUST DISEASE DIAGNOSED IN THE 1930s

Thus, by the mid-1930s, a new “pneumoconiosis” was medically established and unusual features agreed upon. The disease was due to a fibrous dust, unrelated to crystalline silica content, the pleural surfaces could frequently be involved, and the scarring produced could be extremely damaging (pulmonary insufficiency), even fatal.

The next 30 years were marked by continuing accumulation of information concerning disease hazards associated with exposure to the dust, including the fact that the particles were fibrous in form. Nevertheless, the fact that we were dealing with fibers was not one of the outstanding questions explored during this period. Rather, scientific and medical studies were driven by accumulating knowledge of the spectrum of disease hazards.

The initial finding of lung cancers among asbestos-exposed workers in 1935 (15, 16) added impetus as did the initial reports of pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma in the 1950s (17-19) with even greater emphasis stimulated by the reports of the frequency of pleural mesothelioma and the fact that it could be produced by much lighter exposure (environmental, family contact) than that which caused serious pulmonary and pleural fibrosis (20, 21).

Moreover, data became available indicating that a much larger number of people had been and were being exposed to asbestos (22), including the many hundreds of thousands using asbestos products in their work, products which had been produced by considerably fewer individuals in the factories in which they were manufactured. The dimensions of the problem were greatly extended, qualitatively and quantitatively.

To review the references in Dr. Selikoff’s article see Pages 275-276 of his report.