Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine

Original Article

Prevalence of Asbestosis in Korean Asbestos Industry: Do myung Paek, Nam Won Paik, Jung Deun Choi, Mi A Son, Jung Gi Im, Won Jin Lee, Young Hahn Moon, Jung Sun Park, Byung Soon Choi; Korean Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 1995;7(1):46-57. Published online February 28, 1995; DOI: https://doi.org/10.35371/kjoem.1995.7.1.46

Asbestos industry has been in operation over 60 years in Korea. However, the prevalence of asbestosis has not been yet reported. With rapid turn-over of workers, previous cross-sectional studies of current workers on the job could not find cases with exposures long enough for the development of asbestosis. This study was done to evaluate asbestosis prevalence of those worksites with operation history of more than 20 years. In total, 139 workers from 5 worksites were examined. Asbestos industries covered in the study include 2 asbestos textile, 1 brake lining, and 2 ship repairing worksites. Chest x-ray was taken from all workers and read by two exports familiar with pneumoconiosis classification according to 1980 ILO guidelines. Those with findings compatible with asbestosis were further checked with high resolution computerized tomography (HRCT). Pulmonary function tests were done according to ATS guidelines, and occupational and previous medical history was taken through a standardized interview. Air-borne asbestos was measured according to NI0SH method 7400. The air-borno asbestos concentrations ranged from 0.2-1.3 f/cc for asbestos textile, from 0.7~l.0 f/cc for brake lining, and from 6.3-7.8 f/cc during asbestos removal at ship repairing worksite. Of the 139 workers 25 had abnormal chest radiographic findings, and 10 of them had findings compatible with pneumoconiosis. When work history and current asbestos measurements were accounted, 9 workers who had more than 10 years of asbestos exposure history showed chest radiographic findings of pneumoconiosis with Finally, 4 workers showed finding of pulmonary fibrosis and/or pleural thickening at HRCT, and 2 of them had restrictive lung function changes. The study results showed that, among 139 sutjects, there were 4 (3%) definite asbeatosis cases confirmed with HRCT. The prevalence of probable asbestosis was 7% for 10-14 years of exposure, 13% for 15-19 years of exposure, and 23% for 20 or more years of exposure. The prevalence of compensable asbestosis with abnormal lung function was 4-6% for those with 15 or more years of exposure.

Citations

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