Intensity of exposure to asbestos in metropolitan Kure City as estimated by autopsied cases.

In this study, the intensity of exposure to asbestos was evaluated in the residents of Kure City, the site of the Japanese naval shipyard, Kure. The number of asbestos bodies was counted in 728 autopsied cases from those treated surgically in Kure Kyosai Hospital. Five grams of lung tissue was lysed, and the number of asbestos bodies was counted with the use of light microscopic examination. By this method, the number of asbestos bodies detected in men was significantly higher than that in women. There was a peak between 60 and 70 years of age. The number of asbestos bodies in exposed cadavers in Kure City exceeded greatly that found in other districts of Japan. By this criterion, 58 of 109 patients with lung cancer had asbestos exposure, and 39 had a high exposure to asbestos. All 13 patients with malignant mesothelioma had a high exposure to asbestos. Excess asbestos exposure also was found in a large proportion of patients with gastric cancer, colon cancer, and acute leukemia. The crocidolite type of asbestos was detected frequently in patients of malignant mesothelioma or leukemia, and the chrysotile form was found in those with lung cancer.