drilling pcb's and health

[Dr. Jörg Schmitz]

I don't understand these E-Mail servers. I posted this mail at 13 O'clock,
and nothing happened !!!!!!!

Ok, once more :


Here are some abstracts of medical studys concerning fiberglass and
fiberglass dust.
I think, it would be better to avoid inspiration of fiberglass dust.

Juergen, what you mean with these small fibre particles is really dangerous,
and it depends
highly on the diameter of these particles, if they are a risk. If these
particles are 
made of SiO2 and 5um in diameter, you have a high risk to develop a so
called "silicose"
which leads to a respiratory insufficiency sooner or later.

I don't know exactly the diameter and the chemics of the fiberglass dust,
and I also found
no medical report on this topic (I mean diameter and so on). 


J.S.


P.S.
Don't wonder about the first abstract : I know, we are not rats, but the
lung of a rat
responses very similar to human lungs.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------
Response of the rat lung to respirable fractions of composite fiber-epoxy
dusts.

Luchtel DL, Martin TR, Boatman ES
Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Community
Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle 98195. 

It is unknown whether respirable dusts derived from the machining of
composite fiber-epoxy materials pose a health risk. To evaluate the
potential pulmonary toxicity of these materials, we studied the effects of
six samples of dusts previously well characterized physically, chemically,
and morphologically in the lungs of specific pathogen-free rats. A single
intratracheal bolus of 5 mg of each sample was injected into separate groups
of five rats each. For comparison, free crystalline silica (quartz) and
aluminum oxide were used as positive and negative controls in additional
animals. One month later, the lungs were fixed and sectioned for light
microscopy. Histopathology scores for the six composite-epoxy samples showed
a continuum of lung injury that was between the negative and positive
controls. None of the composite dusts had effects that paralleled those of
quartz; however, four of the composite dusts produced reactions that were
more severe than that seen with aluminum oxide. Therefore, respirable
fractions of some types of composite materials can induce pathological
changes in lungs of experimental animals. The features responsible for the
variation in host response between samples are, as yet, unclear. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------

Fiberglass or silica exposure and increased nephritis or ESRD (end-stage
renal disease).

Goldsmith JR, Goldsmith DF
Evaluation Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University of the
Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel. 

The U.S. multiplant cohort mortality study of workers producing manufactured
mineral fibers is finding increasing mortality from nephritis and/or
nephrosis. We examine other data sets to see if similar effects can be
identified. In a case-referent study among Michigan patients with end-stage
renal disease (ESRD), men with exposures to silica have elevated odds ratio
for ESRD. In a California occupational mortality study based on 1979-81
data, a number of the construction trades, farmers, and farm laborers show
excess mortality for renal disease. The highest mortality ratio is found in
the category including insulation workers. This ratio remains significantly
elevated when adjusted for estimated exposures to smoking, alcohol, and for
socio-economic status. California mortality data from 20 years earlier
(1959-61) fail to show much excess renal disease in construction workers,
but do for farmers. In Singapore, granite workers with a long-term exposure
to silica have excess excretion of albumin and similar compounds compared to
less exposed controls, leading to the presumption that silica exposure can
lead to silica nephrotoxicity. Balkan nephropathy has been associated with
consumption of well water high in silica. In the Negev of Israel, dust
storms are a vehicle for increasing respiratory uptake of silica. The
Beduin, thought to be a population with maximal exposures, have higher rates
of ESRD than do Jews in the age groups over 60 years. Although high blood
concentrations of silica are found in persons with renal failure, the close
association with elevated creatinine has been interpreted as evidence that
the buildup of silica is due to renal failure, rather than vice-versa. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------
Pneumologie 1990 Feb;44 Suppl 1:250-1 

[Pulmonary risks caused by exposure to glass fiber dust].
[Article in German] 

Radenbach D, Morgenroth K, Staud RD, Magnussen H
Krankenhaus Grosshansdorf, Zentrum fur Pneumologie und Thoraxchirurgie, LVA
Hamburg. 

We observed two patients who, after inhaling glass fibre dust for 14 and 16
years, respectively, developed a cough and dyspnoea on exertion. Our
investigation of transbronchially obtained lung tissue with the aid of light
microscopy, electron microscopy and energy-dispersive x-ray micro-analysis
revealed fibrosis of mild extension in immediate topographical relationship
to phagocytosed fragments of glass fibre. We conclude from these findings
that inhaled glass fibre dust can develop a fibrogenic effect. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------



> I hadn't considered any risk from fibreglass pcbs.
> How much of a health risk do they present ?
> 
> No point making pcbs that last longer if I won't.
> 
> 
> Colin f
> 

________________________________________
Dr. J. Schmitz
http://www.patho.bonn.com
http://members.xoom.com/jmschmitz
----------------------------------------