Asbestos and disease.

Abstract

Sets forth a model approach to the consideration of diseases induced by environmental agents. Proceeding systematically from the extraction and processing of the mineral, it goes on to review the various manufacturing processes of asbestos and opportunities for exposure; its distribution in the environment; the etiology, prevalence, and clinical features of the resultant diseases; the cellular mechanisms of pathogenesis; and the various legal and engineering procedures involved in prevention and control. Criteria for establishing cause-and-effect relationships of a presumptive agent are developed, and the etiology of four pathogenic processes established, namely parenchymal asbestosis, pleural asbestosis, mesothelioma, and asbestos-associated carcinoma. -after Author