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Asbestos bodies in the sputum of asbestos workers: correlation with occupational exposure

¹ Occupational Disease Dept, Rouen University Hospital, Rouen, ² Pathology Dept and ³ Medical Computing Laboratory, Caen University Hospital, Caen, ⁴ GISTAF, Occupational Health Service, Condé sur Noireau, ⁵ Pneumology Dept, J. Monod Hospital, Flers, ⁶ Laboratory of Inhaled Particles Study, Paris, ⁷ EPI 99-09, University of Medicine, Créteil, and ⁹ Occupational Health Institute of Lower-Normandy, University of Medicine, Caen, France

CORRESPONDENCE: C. Paris, Service de Médecine du Travail, CHU de Rouen, 76031, Rouen cedex, France. Fax: 33 232888184. E-mail: christophe.paris@chu-rouen.fr

Keywords: asbestos bodies, occupational exposure, sputum

Received: July 19, 2001
Accepted May 16, 2002

This study was supported by the Caisse Régionale d'Assurance Maladie de Normandie.

A cross-sectional medical survey including collection of three consecutive sputum samples was carried out among 270 retired workers of a textile and friction materials factory, in order to investigate the relationship between asbestos body identification and asbestos exposure.

The individual cumulative asbestos exposure, determined by means of a plant-specific job-exposure matrix based on asbestos air measurements in the workshops, proved to be heavy with a mean cumulative exposure of 217 fibres·mL^–1xyr. Macrophages and asbestos bodies were identified in sputum samples by light microscopy.

The lung origin of the sputum, suggested by the presence of macrophages and/or asbestos bodies, was confirmed in 82.6% of subjects, and 53% of these samples were positive for asbestos bodies. The prevalence of asbestos bodies was not related to sex, smoking status or latency. Conversely, multivariate analysis showed a positive relationship with cumulative exposure, duration and intensity of exposure to asbestos, as well as age and time since retirement.

These findings suggest that sputum analysis for asbestos bodies may remain a relevant and noninvasive marker of heavy occupational exposure to asbestos, even years after retirement. Owing to the new perspectives in lung cancer screening, it might contribute to the identification of high-risk subjects.

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