| Asbestos exposure is an impetus for disease | | | | oxygen; asbestos and silica are crystalline, and |
| development, its carcinogenicity for the mesothelium | | | | asbestos and man-made mineral fibers are fibers. |
| and lung tissue is well documented. One interesting | | | | Man-made mineral fibers and asbestos are used as |
| study that examines this issue is called, âSilica, | | | | insulating agents, with the former having generally |
| asbestos, man-made mineral fibers, and | | | | replaced the latter in recent years. Silica is used in |
| cancerâ by Kyle Steenland and Leslie Stayner | | | | foundries, pottery, and brick making, and is encountered |
| - Cancer Causes and Control - Volume 8, Number 3 / | | | | by miners. A meta-analysis of 16 of the largest studies |
| May, 1997. Here is an excerpt: âAbstract - | | | | with well-documented silica exposure and low |
| Approximately three million workers in the United | | | | probability of confounding by other occupational |
| States are estimated to be exposed to silica, | | | | exposures, indicates a relative risk (RR) of 1.3 (95 |
| man-made mineral fibers, and asbestos. The lung is the | | | | percent confidence interval [CI] = 1.2-1.4). Lung cancer |
| primary target organ of concern. Each of these | | | | risks are highest and most consistent for silicotics, who |
| substances is composed predominantly of silicon and | | | | have received the highest doses (RR = 2.3, CI = 2.2-2. |