Many buildings contain mineral fibres used as structural elements or as insula tion. The aging of these products and their disturbance or removal can cause the liberation of fibres into the indoor air. The health effects of these materials continues to be a subject of considerable concern, which together with the cost and disruption involved in asbestos removal causes particular problems. The fibres used in buildings are described with an emphasis on the newer man- made fibres. These are used mainly as insulation wools and do not become readily airborne. The relevance of these results to human risk assessment is discussed.
Begin R., Massé S., Rola-Pleszczynski M., Boctor M., Drapeau G.: Asbestos exposure dose-bronchoalveolar milieu response in asbestos workers and the sheep model: Evidence for a threshold for chrysotile-induced fibrosis . Drug Chem Toxicol1987;10:87-107.
4.
Ontario Royal Commission on Asbestos: Report of the Royal Commission on matters of health and safety arising from the use of asbestos in Ontario. Toronto, Ministry of the Attorney General, 1984.
5.
Doll R., Peto J.: Effects on health of exposure to asbestos. Health and Safety Commission . London, HMSO1985.
6.
Who: Asbestos and other natural mineral fibres. Environ Health Criteria1986;53.
7.
Wagner JC, Sleggs CA, Marchand P.: Diffuse pleural mesotheliomas and asbestos exposure in the North Western Cape Province. Br J Indust Med1960;17:260-271.
8.
McDonald JC, Armstrong B., Case B., Doell D., McCaughey Wte, McDonald AD, Sébastien P.: Mesothelioma and asbestos fiber type; evidence from lung tissue analyses . Cancer1989; 63:1544-1547.
9.
Berry G., Newhouse ML: Mortality of workers manufacturing friction materials using asbestos . Br J Indust Med1983;40:1-7.
10.
McDonald AD , McDonald JC: Mesothelioma after crocidolite exposure during gas mask manufacture. Environ Res1978; 17:340-346.
11.
Jones Jsp, Smith PG, Pooley FD, Berry G., Sawle GW, Wignall BK, Maddley RY, Aggarwal A.: The consequences of exposure to asbestos dust in a wartime gas mask factory ; in Wagner JC (ed): Biological Effects of Mineral Fibres. Lyon, IARC Scientific Publication, 1980, No 30, pp 637-654.
12.
Baris YI, Saracci R., Simonato L., Skidmore JW, Artvinli M.: Malignant mesothelioma and radiological chest abnormalities in two villages in Central Turkey. Lancet1981 ;i:984.
13.
Poole A., Brown RC, Turver CJ, Skidmore JW, Griffiths DM: In vitro genotoxic activities of fibrous erionite. Br J Cancer1983 ;47:697-705.
14.
Wagner JC, Skidmore JW, Hill RJ, Griffiths DM: Erionite exposure and mesothelioma in rats. Br J Cancer1985;51:727-730.
15.
Peto J.: Dose and time relationships for lung cancer and mesothelioma in relation to smoking and asbestos exposure. Proceedings of a Symposium on Asbestos, Bundesgesundheitsamt, Berlin, February 1982. Berlin, Reimer , 1983, pp 126-132.
16.
Doll R.: Mortality from lung cancer in asbestos workers. Br J Indust Med1955;12:81-86.
17.
McDonald JC : Mineral fibres and cancer. AnnAcad MedSingapore1984;13:345-352.
18.
Hobbs Mst, Woodward SD, Murphy B., Musk AW, Elder JE: The incidence of pneumoconiosis, mesothelioma and other respiratory cancers in men engaged in mining and milling crocidolite in Western Australia ; in Wagner JC (ed): Biological Effects of Mineral Fibres. Lyon, IARC Scientific Publication, No 30, pp 615-625.
19.
Enterline PE , Henderson V.: Types of asbestos and respiratory cancer in the asbestos industry. Arch Environ Health1973;27:312-317.
20.
Hughes J., Weill H.: Lung cancer risk associated with manufacture of asbestos cement products ; in Wagner JC (ed): Biological Effects of Mineral Fibres. Lyon, IARC Scientific Publication, No 30, 1980, pp 627-635.
21.
Wagner JC, Newhouse ML, Corrin B., Rossiter Cer, Griffiths DM: Correlation between fibre content of the lung and disease in east London asbestos factory workers. Br J Indust Med1988;45:305-308.
22.
Saracci R.: Personal-environmental interactions in occupational epidemiology; in McDonald JC (ed): Recent Advances in Occupational Health. London, Churchill Linvingstone, 1981, pp 119-128.
23.
Wehner AP: Biological interaction of inhaled mineral fibers and cigarette smoke . Proceedings of an International Symposium Workshop . Columbus, Battelle Press, 1989.
24.
Mossman BT: Carcinogenic potential of asbestos and non-asbestos fibers. Environ SciHealth1988;C6:151-195.
25.
Who: Man-made mineral fibres . Environ Health Criteria1988;77.
26.
Simonato L. , Fletcher AC, Cherrie J., Andersen A., Bertazzi P., Charnay N., Claude J., Dodgson J., Esteve J., Frentzel-Beyme R., Gardner MJ, Jensen O., Olsen J., Saracci R., Teppo L., Winklemann R., Westerholm P., Winter PD, Zocchetti C.: The IARC historical cohort study of MMMF production workers in seven European countries: extension of the follow-up. Ann Occup Hyg1987:31:603-624.
27.
S6bastien P. , McDonald JC, McDonald AD, Case B., Harley R.: Respiratory cancer in chrysotile textile and mining industries: Exposure inferences from lung analysis. Br J Indust Med1989;46:180-187.
28.
Brown RC, Chamberlain M., Griffiths DM, Timbrell V.: The effect of fibre size on the in vitro biological activities of three types of amphibole asbestos. Int J Cancer1978 ;22:721-727.
29.
Gross P., Braun DC: Toxic and Biomedical Effects of Fibers. Noyes, Park Ridge, 1984.
30.
Burdett GJ, Jaffrey Samt, Rood AP: Airborne asbestos fibre levels in buildings: A summary of UK measurements ; in Bignon J, Peto J, Saracci R (eds): Non-Occupational Exposure to Mineral Fibres. Lyon, IARC Scientific Publication, No 90, 1989, pp 277-290.
31.
Gaudichet A. , Petit G., Billon-Galland MA, Dufour G.: Levels of atmospheric pollution by man-made mineral fibres in buildings; in Bignon J, Peto J, Saracci R (eds): Non-Occupational Exposure to Mineral Fibres. Lyon, IARC Scientific Publication, 1989, No. 90, pp 291-298.
32.
Jaffrey Samt : Laboratory studies of fibre release from new and old man-made mineral fibre blankets. Section paper HSE report number I/RL/DI/89/1. 1989 .
33.
Brown RC, Davis Jmg, Douglas D., Gruber UF, Hoskins JA, Ilgren EB, Johnson NF, Rossiter CE, Wagner JC: Carcinogenicity of the mineral wools: Reassessment of the IARC evaluation . J Regul Toxicol, in press.
