[Potential role of environmental and domestic exposure to tremolite in pleural cancer in New Caledonia].

A previous study of respiratory cancers in New Caledonia (1978-1987) showed an excess risk of pleural cancer in this South Pacific French Territory, leading to the identification of an environmental pollution. In some villages, the residents use for their houses a whitewash made from a rock derived from local outcroppings. Analysis of samples of rock and whitewash showed that they consisted of tremolite asbestos. High levels of tremolite were detected in airborne samples collected in these villages and in biological specimens of patients with pulmonary cancer or mesothelioma; the concentrations of fibers are up to 78,000 fibers per litre of air and 44 millions of fibers per gramme of dry tissue. Besides the whitewash, the environmental exposure to tremolite fibers could also be associated with certain occupations. A case control study under process will allow the estimation of respiratory cancer risks associated with the exposure to tremolite.