Personal exposure to asbestos and respiratory health of heavy vehicle brake mechanics

María Fernanda Cely-García; Carlos A. Torres-Duque; Mauricio Durán; Patricia Parada; Olga Lucía Sarmiento; Patrick N. Breysse; Juan P. Ramos-Bonilla

doi:10.1038/jes.2014.8

Personal exposure to asbestos and respiratory health of heavy vehicle brake mechanics

María Fernanda Cely-García, Carlos A. Torres-Duque, Mauricio Durán, Patricia Parada, Olga Lucía Sarmiento, Patrick N. Breysse, Juan P. Ramos-Bonilla

Bloomberg School of Public Health

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

15 Scopus citations

Abstract

Asbestos brake linings and blocks are currently used in heavy vehicle brake repair shops (BRSs) in Bogotá, Colombia. Some brake products are sold detached from their supports and without holes, requiring manipulation before installation. The aim of this study was to assess asbestos exposures and conduct a preliminary evaluation of respiratory health in workers of heavy vehicles in BRSs. To estimate asbestos exposures, personal and area samples were collected in two heavy vehicle BRSs. Each shop was sampled during six consecutive days for the entire work shift. Personal samples were collected on 10 workers including riveters, brake mechanics, and administrative staff. Among workers sampled, riveters had the highest phase contrast microscopy equivalent (PCME) asbestos concentrations, with 8-h time-weighted average (TWA) personal exposures ranging between 0.003 and 0.157 f/cm 3. Respiratory health evaluations were performed on the 10 workers sampled. Three workers (30%) had circumscribed pleural thickening (pleural plaques), with calcifications in two of them. This finding is strongly suggestive of asbestos exposure. The results of this study provide preliminary evidence that workers in heavy vehicle BRSs could be at excessive risk of developing asbestos-related diseases.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	26-36
Number of pages	11
Journal	Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology
Volume	25
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2014.8
State	Published - Jan 11 2015

Keywords

Brake mechanics
Chrysotile
Colombia
Pleural plaques
Pleural thickening
Riveters

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Epidemiology
Toxicology
Pollution
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

Access to Document

10.1038/jes.2014.8

Cite this

@article{515f071439cb459b815e25cf5739d796,

title = "Personal exposure to asbestos and respiratory health of heavy vehicle brake mechanics",

abstract = "Asbestos brake linings and blocks are currently used in heavy vehicle brake repair shops (BRSs) in Bogot{\'a}, Colombia. Some brake products are sold detached from their supports and without holes, requiring manipulation before installation. The aim of this study was to assess asbestos exposures and conduct a preliminary evaluation of respiratory health in workers of heavy vehicles in BRSs. To estimate asbestos exposures, personal and area samples were collected in two heavy vehicle BRSs. Each shop was sampled during six consecutive days for the entire work shift. Personal samples were collected on 10 workers including riveters, brake mechanics, and administrative staff. Among workers sampled, riveters had the highest phase contrast microscopy equivalent (PCME) asbestos concentrations, with 8-h time-weighted average (TWA) personal exposures ranging between 0.003 and 0.157 f/cm 3. Respiratory health evaluations were performed on the 10 workers sampled. Three workers (30%) had circumscribed pleural thickening (pleural plaques), with calcifications in two of them. This finding is strongly suggestive of asbestos exposure. The results of this study provide preliminary evidence that workers in heavy vehicle BRSs could be at excessive risk of developing asbestos-related diseases.",

keywords = "Brake mechanics, Chrysotile, Colombia, Pleural plaques, Pleural thickening, Riveters",

author = "Cely-Garc{\'i}a, {Mar{\'i}a Fernanda} and Torres-Duque, {Carlos A.} and Mauricio Dur{\'a}n and Patricia Parada and Sarmiento, {Olga Luc{\'i}a} and Breysse, {Patrick N.} and Ramos-Bonilla, {Juan P.}",

note = "Funding Information: We thank the owners, administrative staff, brake mechanics, and riveters from the BRSs sampled. We also thank the Research Vice-presidency, the School of Engineering, and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering from Universidad de Los Andes for their financial support. The collaboration received from the staff of Fundaci{\'o}n Neumol{\'o}gica Colombiana and the Radiology Department in Fundaci{\'o}n Cardioinfantil in Bogot{\'a} is also greatly appreciated. Finally, we thank Forensic Analytical Laboratories for the analysis of the samples. All the equipment used to assess exposure was acquired with the financial support of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering from Universidad de Los Andes. Laboratory analysis and respiratory health evaluations were performed with the financial support of the Research Vice-presidency, the School of Engineering, and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering from Universidad de Los Andes. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2015 Nature America, Inc. All rights reserved.",

year = "2015",

month = jan,

day = "11",

doi = "10.1038/jes.2014.8",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "25",

pages = "26--36",

journal = "Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology",

issn = "1559-0631",

publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",

number = "1",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Personal exposure to asbestos and respiratory health of heavy vehicle brake mechanics

AU - Cely-García, María Fernanda

AU - Torres-Duque, Carlos A.

AU - Durán, Mauricio

AU - Parada, Patricia

AU - Sarmiento, Olga Lucía

AU - Breysse, Patrick N.

AU - Ramos-Bonilla, Juan P.

N1 - Funding Information: We thank the owners, administrative staff, brake mechanics, and riveters from the BRSs sampled. We also thank the Research Vice-presidency, the School of Engineering, and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering from Universidad de Los Andes for their financial support. The collaboration received from the staff of Fundación Neumológica Colombiana and the Radiology Department in Fundación Cardioinfantil in Bogotá is also greatly appreciated. Finally, we thank Forensic Analytical Laboratories for the analysis of the samples. All the equipment used to assess exposure was acquired with the financial support of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering from Universidad de Los Andes. Laboratory analysis and respiratory health evaluations were performed with the financial support of the Research Vice-presidency, the School of Engineering, and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering from Universidad de Los Andes. Publisher Copyright: © 2015 Nature America, Inc. All rights reserved.

PY - 2015/1/11

Y1 - 2015/1/11

N2 - Asbestos brake linings and blocks are currently used in heavy vehicle brake repair shops (BRSs) in Bogotá, Colombia. Some brake products are sold detached from their supports and without holes, requiring manipulation before installation. The aim of this study was to assess asbestos exposures and conduct a preliminary evaluation of respiratory health in workers of heavy vehicles in BRSs. To estimate asbestos exposures, personal and area samples were collected in two heavy vehicle BRSs. Each shop was sampled during six consecutive days for the entire work shift. Personal samples were collected on 10 workers including riveters, brake mechanics, and administrative staff. Among workers sampled, riveters had the highest phase contrast microscopy equivalent (PCME) asbestos concentrations, with 8-h time-weighted average (TWA) personal exposures ranging between 0.003 and 0.157 f/cm 3. Respiratory health evaluations were performed on the 10 workers sampled. Three workers (30%) had circumscribed pleural thickening (pleural plaques), with calcifications in two of them. This finding is strongly suggestive of asbestos exposure. The results of this study provide preliminary evidence that workers in heavy vehicle BRSs could be at excessive risk of developing asbestos-related diseases.

AB - Asbestos brake linings and blocks are currently used in heavy vehicle brake repair shops (BRSs) in Bogotá, Colombia. Some brake products are sold detached from their supports and without holes, requiring manipulation before installation. The aim of this study was to assess asbestos exposures and conduct a preliminary evaluation of respiratory health in workers of heavy vehicles in BRSs. To estimate asbestos exposures, personal and area samples were collected in two heavy vehicle BRSs. Each shop was sampled during six consecutive days for the entire work shift. Personal samples were collected on 10 workers including riveters, brake mechanics, and administrative staff. Among workers sampled, riveters had the highest phase contrast microscopy equivalent (PCME) asbestos concentrations, with 8-h time-weighted average (TWA) personal exposures ranging between 0.003 and 0.157 f/cm 3. Respiratory health evaluations were performed on the 10 workers sampled. Three workers (30%) had circumscribed pleural thickening (pleural plaques), with calcifications in two of them. This finding is strongly suggestive of asbestos exposure. The results of this study provide preliminary evidence that workers in heavy vehicle BRSs could be at excessive risk of developing asbestos-related diseases.

KW - Brake mechanics

KW - Chrysotile

KW - Colombia

KW - Pleural plaques

KW - Pleural thickening

KW - Riveters

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84927174072&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84927174072&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1038/jes.2014.8

DO - 10.1038/jes.2014.8

M3 - Article

C2 - 24496218

AN - SCOPUS:84927174072

SN - 1559-0631

VL - 25

SP - 26

EP - 36

JO - Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology

JF - Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology

IS - 1

ER -

Personal exposure to asbestos and respiratory health of heavy vehicle brake mechanics

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this